Russia has a very extensive history of military operations and wars. Russia has been successful in most of its wars, but the price was too high as too many lives had been lost. Therefore, our descendants need to remember the lessons that our ancestors left for us as a legacy. Most of the threats that Russia had to deal with were coming from the south and the southwest. One of those campaigns took place in 1827-1828, when France and England pushed Russia into the flames of another war with Turkey. General Nikolai Yepanchin combined his service in the army ranks with extensive scientific and teaching activities. He was also a member of the Military Historical Commission of the General Staff for compiling a description of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. He repeatedly criticised the military component of the Russian Empire, dwelling in detail on how the Russian army was prepared for military campaigns.

A major crisis broke out in Russia in the beginning of October 1993. It was the most serious crisis in post-Soviet history. Disagreements between President Boris Yeltsin and parliamentary leaders led to bloody massacre on the streets of Moscow.  The number of victims of the Black October crisis remains unknown even 30 years after. According to various departments and commissions, the number of victims varies from 124 to 158 people. Witnesses say, however, that hundreds were killed and thousands of others were injured.  After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the 1978 Constitution of the RSFSR was still in force vesting supreme powers on the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies.

The future of the International Space Station remains extremely vague. News reports about technical problems on board the ISS became, one might say, traditional. Is it time to decide? The service life of the International Space Station extends till 2024. At the same time, now is the time to decide what should be done to the station afterwards. Late last year, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said that the future of the ISS would be determined in the first quarter of 2021."The fate of the ISS has not been fully decided yet, it will be determined, probably, in the first quarter of next year," Borisov told TASS. He also added that Roscosmos corporation plans to launch a new segment of the ISS, which is expected to become the basis for the Russian orbital station in the future.It goes about "Nauka" ("Science") module, which will become a space laboratory for Russian cosmonauts. Does Russia want the ISS to last longer? Ivan Moiseev, the scientific director of the Institute of Space Policy, believes that stopping international cooperation was out of the question. "There is an official permit to run the station till 2024 - till 2025, in fact. All the countries participating in the ISS agreement agreed to consider the issue of extending the service life of the station till 2028-2030 - that was six months ago," the expert told Pravda.Ru.However, the situation took a turn due to a series of accidents on board the ISS."Those were insignificant accidents, but they create a relevant information background. The government had to decide. If it was not for those accidents, they would have quietly extended the service life of the ISS until 2028, and it would be beneficial to everyone. But when those accidents started happening, they led the general public to believe that the station was falling apart. There were official statements made about the need to finish its work," Ivan Moiseev said.However, the expert believes that the work of the station should be extended. "Therefore, the government apparently will make a decision on the matter in early 2021," he believes.

After Brazil assessed the effectiveness of CoronaVac vaccine by Chinese company Sinovac on the verge of acceptable - about 50 percent, other countries that chose the same drug started showing signs of discontent as well. The Ukrainian population to be vaccinated with CoronaVac In particular, Ukraine's Minister of Health Maxim Stepanov said that the issue was politicized. "All manufacturers in the world without exception that produce vaccines, those that have provided reports, the companies that have registered vaccines ... we have been negotiating with them since May. Just like with COVAX. Therefore, all this is about manipulations - some politicians are trying to intimidate the Ukrainians," he said.

Political tensions in the world have reached the stage when many start wondering whether the human civilization may survive a nuclear catastrophe. One may hear many expert opinions about post-apocalyptic topics.According to the authors of Telegram channel Mayday. Chronicles of Nose-Diving, pandemics of various deadly infections, abrupt climate change, and disasters at nuclear and chemical facilities remain most important threats to mankind, not to mention the worst scenario of a global nuclear war. As for the issue of reviving human civilization per se, researchers believe that a little more than a hundred people with an equal gender balance would be enough for humans to survive. The set of genes in descendants will allow the new human civilisation to survive and develop (the example of the Maori is indicative here).One should also take into account the offensive of nature. If urban development is not supported by life support systems, nature will take its toll very quickly.Plants will take over all ruins in just a few years, like it happened in Abkhazia. For example, the Tkuarchal regional power plant in Abkhazia used to be a state regional power plant that supplied energy to the industrial city of Tkuarchal and its environs. It was built in the 1950s and was the main consumer of coal mined from Tkuarchal.Later, in the late 1980s, the regional power station switched to natural gas. During the 1992-1993 Georgian-Abkhaz war, it was demolished, and still remains in deplorable condition beyond repairs. People will survive and find something to do. Villagers will find it easier to survive because they will be able to return to farming, agriculture and cattle breeding. They will need primitive agricultural tools to ensure the survival of villages. The main problem will be the preservation and revival of scientific knowledge. Gadgets and appliances, like other technologically complex products that require advanced production, cannot be reproduced from scratch. The people themselves will be busy with completely different problems. Descendants of scientists and professors, forced to engage in hunting and gathering, are unlikely to be able to convey their knowledge about the structure of the solar system to their descendants. One needs to think about such a development of events before the very fact of the end of the world. Otherwise, the world will plunge into another stone age.Analysts of the "Older than Edda" project believe that the possible replenishment of the nuclear club does not seem to be something unprecedented. Technically, a third of UN member states are capable of creating a nuclear bomb. It is more difficult to develop vehicles to deliver nuclear bombs, but there is nothing particularly complicated in the very creation of a nuclear weapon.In fact, the only thing that protects us from the mass production of weapons of the Apocalypse is the dilapidating system of the post-war world order and the hegemony of the United States, which has been rapidly losing its relevance lately.

It is not the melting of permafrost that causes giant gas bubbles to erupt, geophysicists found. This crater in Yamal is the 17th such crater that was found in the region.Vasily Bogoyavlensky, geologist and geophysicist, said that there are many of such "black holes" in the north of Russia. Many of those craters have emerged during the past ten years.The very first crater, which was discovered in 2014, became the famous one. It was a hole about 50 meters deep and 40 meters in diameter. Geologists quickly established that the giant hole in the ground was just a hole, from which methane was bursting out.A cavity is formed in the layers of underground ice as it melts due to the influence of a local anomalous heat flow. This cavity is then filled with gas, and it grows larger, causing the surface on the ground to swell until the frozen rock reaches its ultimate strength and eventually explodes in a pneumatic explosion. Extraterrestrial cryovolcanoes found on Earth Some scientists assumed that the Yamal crater was the first cryovolcano on planet Earth - a volcano that appears in permafrost and spews out jets of gas instead of melted magma. Until recently, such cryovolcanoes were observed only in space - on Neptune's satellite Triton, and on Titan or Enceladus (the moons of Saturn). According to Vasily Bogoyavlensky, the Yamal gas eruptions can be referred to as volcanoes only to a certain degree, although several craters can be defined as such. "I believe that many of these objects can be categorised as ordinary mud volcanoes, but they have their own peculiarities, because the near-surface soil is frozen. It additionally restrains the gas, and the pressure in the cavity can reach high values. As a result, the gas still breaks through the rock," the researcher said.

In 2025, the era of the International Space Station is supposed to end. Russia, China and the United States will switch to their own programs in near space. All space powers have their problems. Who is going to win the race? Russia to flood its section of the ISS in 2024 Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin wrote in Telegram that the Russian Space Agency started working on the construction of the first module of the new Russian orbital station. "The work on the first base module for the new Russian orbital service station is underway. The Energia Rocket and Space Corporation has been tasked to ensure its readiness for launch into orbit in 2025," Rogozin wrote.

Lose weight without spending a cent The story of how I lost 20 kilogrammes (44 lb) in less than three months without going hungry or getting bored and without spending one cent What? Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey writing a non-political article, without bashing someone on the head and claiming about human rights, indigenous rights, women’s rights, without haranging the war lobby, the pharma lobby, the military-industrial complex?

Back to normal. Back to a spike in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Politics before the People, it’s the economy, stupid! The UK heads for Hades. In the midst of this latest global pandemic, common sense seems to have flown out of the window, however incredible it may seem given all the collective knowledge we have gathered over the years. If we look at the history book, we are practically where we were one century ago with so-called Infuenza A H1N1 (Spanish Flu, which was not from Spain but from the USA) and if we turn back just one page, we see that we are back where we were at this time last year. We are going round and round in circles because policymakers are failing us. Common sense, not conspiracy theories Talking about common sense, forget all the conspiracy theories that this is a master plan to cull those members of society more dependent on the State, such as pensioners. It just so happens that their defences are weaker and so they are more susceptible to the illness. Forget the theories about injecting micro-chips with the vaccine. It just so happens that this is one of the main means we have to control the spread of the virus, not the only one but an important one. Forget the denial theories which say the disease does not exist. Go ask the families of those who have died from it. Mine included.

Russia is making pointless and even strange steps in and around space, and they are all the more sad because they cost the Russian budget a lot of money and deprive the nation of the space power status. Why the United States would like to work with Russia in space, but Russia would not The space race has been getting increasingly intense lately. Different countries declare their claims to the Moon. It appears that China is going to be the first to go there. The exploration or even the colonisation of Mars is next on the list. Space exploration by private corporations is in full swing:

Guided hypersonic weapons have given Russia absolute leadership in the field of the development of strategic weapons. No other country in the world, save for, possibly, China, has hypersonic missiles in service. Military analysts do not have any reliable data about China's new weapons. Russia has at least three types of missiles capable of causing irreparable damage to any potential aggressor.Reference: Avangard hypersonic system is capable of developing the speed of up to Mach 28. The system currently uses the Stilett silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile as a carrier. In the future, the new prospective intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat is to be used for the purpose. For the time being, Russia has four such systems on alert. A missile like that is capable of flying from Saratov to New York in 18 minutes. The H-47M2 missile of the Kinzhal (Dagger) complex develops a speed of 12,250 km/h, has a combat range of 3,000 kilometers. Its carrier is the MiG 31K high-altitude fighter-interceptor aircraft. To date, Russia has made several hundreds of Kinzhal missiles. The Zircon is the anti-ship missile. It accelerates to Mach 8. Currently, one Russian warship can carry up to 20 Zircon missiles. At the same time, according to open data, at least several hundred units of these missiles have been produced. During naval exercises held in the White Sea this year, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate launched the Zircon missile that successfully struck the target at a distance of over 350 km. As one can see, all types of Russian hypersonic missiles have already proven their combat effectiveness. At the same time, Russia does not stop here: Russian engineers already work on an air defense system to neutralize hypersonic weapons. Russia's Supreme Commander-in-Chief — President Putin that is — intrigued the world with his words that he said in 2020:

The upcoming UN conference on climate change in Glasgow was supposed to show the world the triumph of the United States and the European Union as trendsetters for everything "green". Unfortunately for them, Europe faced an unprecedented energy crisis, which called into question not only the competence of officials from Brussels, but also the feasibility of the strategy to switch to green energy as soon as possible. Russia, which did not want to dive into the whirlpool of decarbonization, found itself in a more advantageous position. Nevertheless, Moscow has something to show in Glasgow on the climate agenda. China, the United States and India altogether account for more CO2 emissions than all other countries combined. Russia accounts for less than five percent, but the anger of Western politicians and journalists, who propagate environmental slogans, is directed primarily at Russia. Such a biased attitude towards Russia is based on the laws of hybrid war: dirty propaganda should keep citizens in good shape, while raising the degree of hatred. EU demonises Russia and wants more Russian gas When European politicians accuse Russia of the gas crisis, their accusations fit into the anti-Russian agenda just as perfectly. Gazprom strictly fulfills all of its contracts, but this argumentation falls on deaf ears in the EU. For example, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell saw "deep geopolitical roots" in the rise in energy prices. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reproached the Russian gas monopoly for "not responding to higher demand" in Europe. Her compatriot from the Green party, claiming the portfolio of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, stated that Russia was "playing poker" in matters of gas supplies. She has an ironclad argument: after all, European gas storage facilities are comparatively empty.

On September 15, 2021, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered all military personnel, Defense Department civilian officials and contractors to report any symptoms of Havana syndrome, a mysterious disease that affected US diplomatic missions in many countries around the world. Reference: The mysterious disease manifested itself for the first time in 2016 in Havana, Cuba, where it literally wiped out the staff of the US Embassy. The victims reported that at first they heard strange grinding and ringing sounds, and then they either lost consciousness, or began to experience severe migraines, dizziness and disorientation. The diplomatic mission had to be closed, and the personnel had to be repatriated. At least 59 Americans in Cuba and China have been screened or treated for the unknown illness. The total number of patients amounts to at least 130 people.

Regarding my choice for the first part of my titular line, it is what it is: The weather. Nothing more. All else, is buell sheet. Let us leave it at that. Besides, have not we all had enough of the progressive Wokies and Fake News Media the world over waxing on ad hominem about it already? Climate hysteria has been going on for decades now. Even with their newest iteration, ‘The Green New Deal’ this climate hoax still comes up smelling of  well, sulfur. It really stinks. What is the adage again? Right: Lipstick on a pig… It does not hide the fact that a real pig, still resides behind the shiny lip-gloss. Climatologist progressives As of this writing, the dog whistling climatologist progressives are attending their annual gas lighting meeting in Scotland. As usual Sweet Child of Sweden, Great Thunberg is there. No surprise either that the pudgy yute girl, now teenager, is leading the “How dare you!’ vanguard charge. No big surprise either, that the world’s billionaire oligarchs attended. All, without exception arrived in their own private Lear jets; leaving their biggest carbon footprints in their wake. As many of you know, that is the wealth mongers’ signature move.

Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, the head of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, published an article in August of this year, in which he casually referred to Russia's state-of-the-art development in the field of hypersonic weapons — the X-95 aircraft missile (also can be spelled as Kh-95). Why would Russia need yet another hypersonic missile given that the country already has Zircon and Kinzhal missiles? According to Vladimir Zarudnitsky, Russia needs to strive to achieve the dominant role of the Russian aviation in the field of aerospace, and it would be impossible to achieve the goal without the effective use of fighter and strike aircraft. Needless to say that the successful destruction of anti-aircraft, aviation and nuclear missile groups of a potential enemy is crucial for victory in any military operation. To achieve military superiority, it is vital for Russia to always be prepared to:

Green New Deal are three words that have acquired great notoriety in recent times and seem to finally be the answer to the increasingly pressing requests coming from the variegated environmental world. The fear that our planet will undergo an ecological collapse that makes it an uninhabitable hell for humanity and the rest of living creatures, be they animals or plants, has prompted a part of Western society to reconsider its priorities and way of living. A part that is not very large, to be honest, but that has received a lot of attention from media, celebrities, no-profit foundations and now also from some governments. Apparently, the new green revolution will guarantee us a bright future. Drastically reduced industrial pollution, zero-emission cars, super-efficient homes and workplaces, heated and powered by the energy of the sun: these are just some of the promises, written with fire on the rock, the realization of which will give us a new Garden of Eden planetary in size. But will it really be like this? Some of the visionary benefactors who are heralds for these fabulous ideas continue to insist that the Earth is overpopulated and that it would be better to return to the situation of the early twentieth century, when the population on our planet was about a quarter of what it is today. The question then arises spontaneously on how to get back to that level quickly, with what methods and with what results.

On January 11, 2022, Russia launched its second serial missile submarine of Project 955 Borei-A. Borei-A submarine: An unpleasant surprise for Washington The submarine cruiser is the brainchild of the Rubin Design Bureau. The vessel was built for seven years. This is a second-to-none submarine, just like its four brothers that are already on combat duty. Prior to this, on December 25 last year, the new submarine was solemnly taken out of the boathouse. The submarine will have to undergo complex trials at all levels before it can be handed over to the navy in 12 months.

Reconnaissance and strike-reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles pose one of the biggest problems for fighters in the 21st century is. There were more than 12 million of them on the planet in 2020. Drones can be dangerous in civilian life as well. They can be used for massive attacks on government facilities and infrastructure. Traditional air defense systems are unable to handle this challenge. A large number of flying mechanisms may overload computers of any air defense system, making it easier for attack drones to break through to the target.

Russia has decided to pull out from the International Space Station project after 2024, Yuri Borisov, the chief of Roscosmos state corporation said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The main priority for Roscosmos now is to provide the Russian economy with required space services, such as navigation, communications, data transmission, meteorological and geodetic information, etc. As for manned space exploration, Roscosmos will deal with the creation of the Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). This project is to replace the ISS for Russia.

This serious medical and social problem is growing exponentially but is not receiving adequate attention Recent studies indicate that babies with some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will constitute as many as one in every 100 births, showing a markedly growing trend. What are the causes? The Autism Center is organising the XI International Annual Conference – Autism. Challenges and Solutions – in Abu Dhabi, UAE (April 28 to 30) which aims to share discoveries and results of investigation carried out over the last decade.  Described as “a serious medical and social problem” by the Autism Centre, this spectrum of disorders does not receive the attention it deserves in many countries around the world, in the words of the Center, “most countries”.

A tsunami of toxic plastic waste looms on the horizon but a revolution is promised. Quite how serious is the situation and what is being done? To set the scene, two thirds of plastic products are short-term, throw-away items containing over 13,000 chemicals, many of them toxic, products like shopping bags, straws, cups and so on. The history The first manufactured plastic was Parkesine, patented in 1862 by its British inventor, Alexander Parkes. It was made from cotton fibres dissolved in nitric and sulphuric acid, and mixed with vegetable oil. It substituted tortoise and turtle shells and ivory. Over the other side of The Pond, John Wesley Hyatt founded the Celluloid Manufacturing Company (USA) and mass produced items such as combs, sunglasses... and cinema film. By 1907 the first fully synthetic plastic had been invented by the Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland, who combined formaldehyde and phenol to produce Bakelite (the material used in the old telephones). By the early twentieth century, the plastics manufacturing giants had already been formed by the alliances of chemical and petroleum industries – ExxonMobil, Dow Chemicals, DuPont, BASF and the British company, ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries), which by 1932 was producing Perspex.

About 4,500 people have been injured as a result of explosions of communication devices that took place in Lebanon. It was Hezbollah members' pager devices that started blowing up first on September 17. The following day, explosions continued, although it was not just pagers, but walkie-talkies, laptops, radios, smartphones, fingerprinting devices and solar-powered units that started exploding. Israel was not the first state to have used remote detonation of communication devices. In fact, a description of such a technology can be found in Pentagon documents from 50 years ago. Israel previously used remotely detonated communication devices in its military operations. For example, one of the leaders of Hamas movement, Yahya Ayyash, received a phone with an explosive planted in it. The devices that exploded in Lebanon were from a new batch These and other cases have one thing in common: the devices that exploded in Lebanon on September 17 and 18 had explosives installed in them in advance.

Chechnya should send volunteers to the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine more frequently, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said. Kadyrov made this announcement after a Ukrainian drone struck the building of the University of Special Forces in Gudermes. "I urge real men to volunteer to fight to defend our land, our state and our people. We need to show that you can't play around with Chechnya and its people," Ramzan Kadyrov said. Airplanes with volunteers should be sent to the front lines every day, not just once a week, as is happening now, he added.

The Americans are using the experience they are currently gaining in Ukraine to be able to go to war with China in the future. The knowledge they have gained will be used to defend Taiwan, The NYT said. "The U. S. Army transforms itself, and its hundreds of thousands of young men and women, for yet another war, this one a potential conflict with China," the newspaper wrote. The upcoming conflict between such major nuclear powers as China and the US will be many times more dangerous. It may therefore lead to huge losses for both sides.

Volodymyr Zelensky may soon be removed by order of the West, the head of Other Ukraine movement Viktor Medvedchuk believes. "Zelensky will soon be shown the door. He thought to outwit the collective West by complaining that it does not support him well, by spreading tales that he would have defeated Russia long ago, but the West does not give him weapons," Medvedchuk, former candidate in Ukrainian presidential elections said. Medvedchuk's remarks may hold water, but his prediction is not going to materialise in the near future. Zelensky may indeed be removed from power when time for Ukraine-Russia peace talks comes.

Volodymyr Zelensky's demand to transfer American Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine gave Washington the jitters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the sidelines of the Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security. "We know that his demand for Tomahawks caused bewilderment in Washington," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. The Americans will "slap Zelensky on his hands" to ensure their security if he continues to try to drag them into the war against Russia, Lavrov noted.

Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1985-1991, the first and last president of the USSR, died on Tuesday evening, August 30, 2022. Gorbachev personifies a lot of things for both Russia and other nations of the world: perestroika, glasnost, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact Organization, a bloc created as a counterweight to NATO. Gorbachev took a course to improve relations with the West and contributed to the unification of Germany. At the same time, there was a series of bloody conflicts in the USSR during his rule. Many hold Gorbachev accountable for the violent dispersal of the rally in Tbilisi in 1989, when 21 people were killed. The same applies to events in Vilnius in January 1991. The results of Gorbachev's era still raise a lot of questions and debates. Some hold him up for the democratization of the regime, while others blame the politician for the collapse of the USSR. It is worthy of note that all the world leaders, with whom Mikhail Gorbachev had worked are now dead:

Putin's Annual Address to the Federal Assembly is scheduled for September 30. Kremlin sources say it will become even more historic and globally important than the 2014 address for the return of Crimea. Mass media and experts make their own suggestions about the content of Putin's speech that he is going to deliver to the Federal Assembly on September 30. There are a number of versions:

The accession of new territories to Russia is justifiable from the economic point of view and will not have a negative impact on the Russian budget, the Kremlin said. As Russia readies to grow even larger, experts try to calculate how much it will cost the Russian budget to rebuild cities and restore peaceful life in the new territories. Some others try to find out how much profit the new territories will bring. The Washington Post announced the approximate cost of mineral deposits in the new regions — about 12.4 trillion dollars.

On October 19, Putin signed a decree to implement martial law in four regions of Russia. He explained this by the fact that Ukrainian forces continue shelling the new Russian regions and committing acts of sabotage. According to the Russian authorities, the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge was carried out by the special services of Ukraine, he also said. "In this regard, let me remind you that in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, before they joined Russia, martial law regime was already in effect. Now we need to formalize this regime within the framework of Russian legislation,” Putin said. Martial law shall be introduced starting from October 20 midnight. The government, as well as the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Federal Security Service and the National Guard, must submit proposals on measures that are planned to be applied in the territories where martial law has been declared within three days.

An expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defenсe was held in Moscow on December 21. During the meeting, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu delivered a keynote speech. President Vladimir Putin also spoke at the meeting. Below are key remarks that Shoigu and Putin made about the army, the special operation and priority tasks for 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin: Of course, the hostilities and military operations are always associated with tragedy and loss of lives. We understand this very well, we are aware of this. But since this [conflict] is inevitable, better today than tomorrow. I think that everyone present in this auditorium perfectly understands what I am talking about. I still consider the Ukrainian people our brotherly nation. What is happening now is a tragedy, but it does not come as a result of our policy. We need to study NATO's experience and tactics in order to include that in the troops training programme and equipping the army. NATO weapons must be analyzed and used to build the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Russia will continue to develop the nuclear triad. This is the main guarantee of maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. As many as 150,000 of the 300,000 mobilised are now undergoing training at training grounds. The other half is in the zone of hostilities. This is enough for the special operation. The past mobilisation has revealed certain problems. To eliminate them, we need to modernise the system of military commissariats. The hostilities have identified issues that need to be worked on, including communication issues. The Ministry of Defence should be attentive to criticism. The ministry should respond to it in a timely manner. Everything a fighter needs must be modern and reliable. Officers and sergeants who have gained experience in the special operation should be assigned to new positions as a matter of priority. It is necessary to develop and use drones in the army — they must be everywhere. We need to expand the arsenal of modern attack weapons. Sarmat intercontinental missiles will be put on combat duty in the near future. The Admiral Gorshkov frigate with state-of-the-art Zirkon hypersonic missile systems will enter combat service in early 2023. We need to saturate the troops with everything necessary — from modern first-aid kits to sights. Everything is important on the battlefield. There are no restrictions to finance the Russian Armed Forces. The country gives the army everything they ask for. We've got everything. We look forward to constructive and meaningful negotiations with a visible end result that would ensure equal security for all, within a certain timeframe. We will not engage in the militarization of the country and economy. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu:

On January 11, 2023, Army General Valery Gerasimov was appointed Commander of the Russian grouping of troops in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine. Gerasimov thus replaced General Sergei Surovikin, who became his deputy. Gerasimov has an extensive experience of army service. He fought Chechen militants at the head of the army, organised Russia's special operation in Syria, and chaired the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in November 2012. Valery Gerasimov was born on September 8, 1955 in Kazan, into a working class family. In 1977 he graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command School named after the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (currently the Kazan Higher Tank Command Red Banner School). In 1987, he graduated with honours from the Military Academy of Armoured Forces named after Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky. In 1997 — from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The West has prepared a "Russia after Putin" plan and already chose its actors in the face of Garry Kasparov* and Mikhail Khodorkovsky*, who suddenly developed an affection for the Russian people. They are waiting for the "window of opportunity" to open. The anti-Russian "Action Committee" published an article in Foreign Affairs magazine under the telling title Don't Fear Putin's Demise. This committee is represented by two good old chaps who were recognised as foreign agents in the Russian Federation. They are Garry Kasparov* and Mikhail Khodorkovsky*. The article in Foreign Affairs says that the West needs to continue to supply Ukraine with modern weapons until Russia's military defeat and the collapse of the Putin regime. The committee also declared its readiness to take the reins of power in its hands afterwards.

Starting from May, Russia may start buying foreign currency for its reserves again. The country's budget has stabilized thanks to the growth of oil and gas export revenues, Bloomberg reports. The growth in revenues from the sale of energy products is already close to the target level. Since February of this year, the Russian Ministry of Finance has been selling reserves in Chinese yuan to cover the budget deficit. In April, sales collapsed by 50 percent compared to the beginning of the year. From May, purchases are likely to begin, Bloomberg notes. Such purchases can be relatively small at first — an equivalent of about $200 million in yuan. For the time being, Russia currently replenishes the National Welfare Fund only by purchasing Chinese currency.

On Tuesday, October 17, the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, gave the first reading to the draft law to revoke the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Commenting on the vote on the bill, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote that the withdrawal of the ratification should "contribute” to ensuring Russia's security against the backdrop of the US refusal to ratify the CTBT. "Washington should finally understand that hegemony on their part does not lead to anything positive. There is a need for dialogue on the principles of mutual respect, absence of double standards, and non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states. The Russian Federation will do everything to protect its citizens and ensure that global strategic parity is maintained," Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on Telegram.

Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave an interview to the MGIMO 360 news channel, in which he answered questions about the presidential election, Russia's nuclear rhetoric and enemies. According to Peskov, Russia's next president should be "the same as [Vladimir] Putin… or different, but the same." "Putin has not announced his intention to run. But I sincerely want to believe that he will do it. I have no doubt that he will win the election, I have no doubt that he will continue to be our president. We'll see," Peskov said.

In 2023, central banks around the world purchased significant amounts of gold. China's activity in this area was particularly noticeable as the nation's gold reserves increased by 225 tons over the year. An article published on Chinese Internet platform Baijiahao says that Russia actively participated in the gold rush to increase its precious metals reserves. As a result, Russia's gold reserves reached a record 2.36 thousand tons. Russia is thus ranked fifth following the USA, Germany, Italy and France.

On Thursday, February 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual Address to the Federal Assembly. In the beginning of the speech, he touched on the topics of the special military operation in Ukraine, relations with the West, strategic stability, and later proceeded to announce a number of new national projects, changes in economic and social sphere. About special military operation Putin recalled that 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the "legendary Russian Spring.” "The love that the people living in Crimea and new regions share for their homeland evokes pride," Vladimir Putin said.

Russia is holding its first-ever three-day presidential election on March 15-17. First polling stations opened in the Far East at 23:00 Moscow time. As many as 112.3 million Russians can cast their vote in the election, the Central Electoral Committee said. There are four candidates competing for the post of the head of state: Vladimir Putin, current president; Leonid Slutsky, LDPR leader; Nikolai Kharitonov, candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation; Vladislav Davankov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, New People party. Vladimir Putin The sitting head of state, Vladimir Putin, is running for election as a self-nominated candidate. In case of victory, it will be Putin's fifth term. Vladimir Putin first took office as President on March 26, 2000, when Boris Yeltsin resigned.

The voter turnout in the Russian presidential election set a new record as it amounted to 77.44 percent, Ella Pamfilova, the chairwoman of the Central Election Commission said. More than 87.113 million voters took part in the Russian presidential election. "Precinct election commissions across the country have completed their work. 99.74 percent of ballots have been entered into the state automated system, so we can fully summarise the results of the presidential election,” she said.

Russia's gold reserves have become the "magic wand” with the help of which Russia easily survived the "hellish” sanctions of the West and achieved economic growth. The West admires Russia's policy of pegging the ruble to gold The Russian economy showed unprecedented growth of 3.6 percent in 2023 against the backdrop of more than 16,000 sanctions, as well as huge expenses for carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine. Russia's GDP is to grow by another 2.6 percent in 2024, the IMF said. Russia has been able to achieve that with the help of its "gold strategy,” The Conversation. com website said. The strategy is about pegging the ruble to gold and liberalising gold trade.

The monstrous terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Russia triggered discussions about the need to reinstate death penalty in the country. It is the legal side of the issue that is being discussed, since the moratorium was established by the Constitutional Court. Russian officials believe that the moratorium on the death penalty that was introduced in Russia in 1996 in connection with the entry into the Council of Europe should be suspended. State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin believes that there is no need for any referendum here — it would only be enough for the Constitutional Court to lift it. Lawyers believe executions will return to Russia Experts maintain that according to the Constitutional Court's clarification from 2009, the binding nature of this or that political decision shall remain unchanged. However, the head of the State Duma Committee on Legislation, Pavel Krasheninnikov, said that there are grounds for lifting the moratorium.

Timur Ivanov, Russian Deputy Defence Minister, was arrested on April 23 in the case of bribery. He will remain in custody before June 2024. A Moscow court sent Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov to a pre-trial detention centre. He was arrested for two months, until June 23. Ivanov was charged under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code (receiving a bribe on an especially large scale). According to investigators, Ivanov entered into a "criminal conspiracy with third parties to commit a crime and received a large bribe in the form of property services provided during contracting and subcontracting works for the needs of the Defence Ministry.”

Andrei Belousov, who held the position of First Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Ministers, will now become Russia's new Defence Minister. The Federation Council will discuss his candidacy on May 13 and 14. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it was important to integrate the economy of the power bloc into the country's economy so that it meets the dynamics of the current moment. "The one who is more open to innovation wins on the battlefield," Peskov said. "The Ministry of Defence must be absolutely open to innovation, to all advanced ideas the purpose of economic competitiveness. Apparently, this is why the president picked the candidacy of Andrei Removich Belousov," he noted.

By nominating a civilian such as Andrei Belousov for the post of the Defence Minister, Vladimir Putin continued the tradition that had developed during his service. General Sergei Ivanov was the first minister appointed by Putin. Ivanov came from intelligence (he headed the military department from 2001 to 2007), and was replaced (under President Dmitry Medvedev) by the former chief tax officer Anatoly Serdyukov. Serdyukov served at the post for five years. Sergei Shoigu, a civil engineer by training and the founder of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, chaired the Defence Ministry in 2012 (he left the post of the Moscow region governor). Andrei Belousov is 65 years old. He has been associated with economics all his life. After graduating from the Department of Economics of the Moscow State University, he took up scientific activities — first at the Central Institute of Economics and Mathematics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, then at the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of Scientific and Technological Progress of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1990-2006, he served as a senior researcher and head of a laboratory at the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Russia's gold reserves reached a new record in August as they amounted to $188.8 billion. Their share in international assets exceeded 30 percent for the first time in almost 25 years, the Central Bank of Russia said. As of September 1, 2024, Russia's international reserves grew to $613.7 billion, up from $602.05 billion as of August 1. In August, Russia increased its gold investments by 5.1 percent, bringing them to a record $188.8 billion. The previous record was set a month earlier at $179.5 billion.

El Departamento de Seguros de Texas (TDI, por su nombre y siglas en inglés) anunció a Dan Paschal como el Comisionado Adjunto de la recién creada división de Relaciones Externas. Esta división incluirá Comunicaciones (actualmente Asuntos Públicos) y Relaciones Gubernamentales (actualmente Asuntos de la Agencia).

The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) recognized WPT Power Corp. with a third Lone Star Safety Award for its exemplary workplace safety efforts and low rates of work-related injuries and illnesses.

The case was led by Texas Department of Insurance investigators and prosecutors working with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

El caso fue dirigido por los investigadores del Departamento de Seguros de Texas (TDI por su nombre y siglas en inglés) y los fiscales trabajando con la Oficina del Fiscal del condado Harris.