A three-ton FAB-3000 aerial bomb dropped by the Russian forces on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia cleared an area of ​​one square kilometer. An underground command post of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an ammunition depot, and several units of combat armoured vehicles were obliterated in the bombing. It remains unknown how many Ukrainian servicemen were killed. The video of the use of the aerial bomb in the Kursk region appeared on November 7, but the date of the attack was not specified.

A new sensation in London’s restaurants! Not so long ago, a new dish appeared on restaurants’ menus across London. It is an unusual and yet absolutely fabulous soup entitled “Putin’s Ear.”  Yes, Putin, as in the President of the Russian Federation! According to the legend, President’s wife Ludmila Putina has personally informed a journalist of “The Times”  in a phone interview of the actual recipe. The dish has been titled “Putin’s Ear” mainly because of the phone static.  The soup has rather interesting ingredients. In order to prepare such dish one will need a pike perch, a ling, potatoes, carrots, eggs, tomatoes, orange zest, celery, onions and spices. Despite the use of orange zest that adds a little bit of bitterness, the soup still tastes like traditional Russian fish-soup “uha”.

New exhibition entitled “Art of Islam” begins today in the halls of the State's Hermitage Museum in London's Somerset House. 75 items from the Hermitage's Eastern Art Collection will be displayed. “Exhibition of Islamic art with a few pieces from Hermitage had taken place in London nearly 40 years ago. However, this art collection of the world’s famous Hermitage is taking place in London for the first time on such grand scale,” stated senior staff scientist of the Department of Eastern studies of Hermitage, Adel Adamova, reports RIA ‘Novosti”. Museum halls will showcase various pieces from different countries of the Islamic world; the earliest dating back to the Middle Ages. Visitors could witness the best examples of Muslim bronze work, Turkish and Iranian weapons, jewelry items, a series of Persian miniatures, chasubles of Russian priests made from Turkish and Persian fabrics, as well as velvet fabrics made in Iran in XVI century.

Elvira Nabiullina approved as Chairperson of Russian Bank The economist, Elvira Sakiphzadovna Nabiullina, has been approved by the Russian State Duma as Chairperson of the Russian Bank and will take office on the 24th of June 2013. She was born in Ufa, Bashkortostan, on the 29th of October 1963, of Tatar descent.  After graduating from the Lomonosov State University in Moscow, she gained a PhD in Economics, in 1990. Stations of her career were the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade, and Sberbank. In 2008, Elvira Nabiullina was appointed as Minister for Economic Development and Trade. When Vladimir Putin was re-elected for his third term as President of the Russian Federation, in 2012, she joined his advisory committee as presidential aide.

Source: REX The US intends to return 28 documents signed by Peter the Great and Joseph Stalin in the 18th and 20th centuries to Russia.  The documents were stolen during the 1990s from Russian archives, but were later found in the United States in the course of the investigation that lasted for about six years. The US Embassy in Moscow plans to deliver the historical documents to the Russian government on March 3 in a special ceremony, despite the confrontation between the two countries.

AP photo The governments of many countries recommend their citizens to be highly careful during tourist trips to Russia. In some countries, tourists are advised not to go to Russia at all. In China, officials advise tourists to watch out for ticks in the Urals. In Ireland, people are warned about ice on the roads, whereas the authorities of Canada recommend tourists not to drink with strangers. Australian Foreign Ministry recommends not to chat with Russians on the Internet, as new acquaintances may try to obtain money for a would-be trip to Australia that may never materialize. The Chinese are advised not to travel to Russia on April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday, not to fall victims of neo-Nazis. The authorities of Canada recommend tourists not to make friends with Russians in bars and to keep an eye on their food and drinks. Canadian officials fear that Russians may add psychotropic substances to food or drinks to rob tourists from Canada.

Russia, when signing documents for the sale of Alaska to the United States, was realizing her objective benefit, deputy director of the Historical and Documentary Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Doctor of Historical Sciences Artyom Rudnitsky said.According to him, the deal between Russia and the United States on selling Alaska was fair and aligning with international norms of that time.Rudnitsky noted during the Russian-American international conference "Dialogue of Fort Ross - Meeting in Russia" that the sale of Alaska by Russia was due to several reasons, including the fact that the colony was unprofitable. There were objective difficulties in protecting it in the event of an attack, he added. At the same time, Russia expected to make $5 million from the sale, but managed to obtain more $7 million in the end, which was considered a great achievement for that historical period. Moreover, the Alaska deal became an expression of relations between Russia and the United States. Strengthening relations with the US was important for the Russian Empire, which was in international isolation after the lost Crimean War."Do you think Russia would concede part of its territory to a country that was aggressive and hostile agains it? They treated the Americans well back then and believed that this would in no way infringe upon Russia's interests," concluded Rudnitsky. Also read: If US wants Crimea returned to Ukraine, Russi wants Alaska backPravda.Ru Read article in Russian

Source: Mil.ru To mark the Day of Airborne Forces, which Russia is celebrating on August 2, the Russian Defence Ministry published unique documents on its official website about the establishment of Airborne Forces.The documents date back to the Great Patriotic War. One of them is titled the "Main Directorate of Airborne Troops of the Red Army." The document had been drafted literally a few days before the beginning of the war in 1941. Another document determines the combat composition of airborne units that started fighting against fascist invaders in September of 1941. The publication also includes the combat characteristics of the commander of the 49th Guards Rifle Division, Colonel Margelov, who subsequently became the legendary commander of the Airborne Forces.The main symbol of Russia's Airborne Forces - the blue beret - was approved in 1969 by Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko.

US pilots told a story about Soviet pilots of MiG aircraft that took off to intercept enemy aircraft at the height of the Cold War. Soviet pilots were making jokes during the operations, Theaviationgeekclub website wrote with reference to a collection of stories dedicated to the Douglas F3D Skyknight air missions. "The first time we were intercepted, they reported that we were taking pictures of them, as we were carrying 35 mm hand-held cameras. Normally, it would be on the pilot's side where the interceptors were, and the ECMO would lean across and snap some pictures of them. And the Russians would report, "They're taking pictures of us. What should we do?” One of the Russian controllers had a sense of humour and said "Smile”. Who would have thought the Russians had any sense of humour at all?" Skyknight pilot Chuck Houseman said. The book also said that US pilots, who were collecting reconnaissance data near the Soviet borders in the Far East, thought of Soviet pilots as friendly individuals compared to pilots from other communist countries. According to the author of the book and aviation expert Joe Copalman, the midair encounters had always been quiet as the United States had not violated state borders and performed its tasks within international space.

Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, the former commander of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, said that the Kursk submarine (nuclear submarine K-141 Kursk) sank in 2000 as a result of the collision with a NATO submarine. The name of the Western submarine is known almost for sure, Popov said in an interview with RIA Novosti. The ex-commander-in-chief of the Northern Fleet suggested that the submarine that collided with the Kursk was tracking the sub. The Western submarine could not ensure the required level of safety under the conditions of the sea and other circumstances, so it came too close to the Kursk. According to the admiral, the sub was later found off the coast of Norway. Popov added that the manoeuvre of the Russian nuclear submarine could also lead to the "loss of contact." According to the admiral, he can reveal the name of the NATO submarine with almost 100 percent certainty, but said that he would not do it for a number of reasons.

Ukrainian figure skaters Artem Darensky and Sofia Golichenko, who perform in pair skating, chose to speak Russian at the Beijing Olympics, despite the ban from Ukraine's Ministry of Sports, RIA Novosti reports. The athletes stated that it was up to them to decide in which language to communicate at the Olympics. "We can speak Ukrainian, Russian and English. It's just that it's really hard for us to speak Ukrainian, and in order for people to understand us more, we speak Russian,” said Darensky.

Alexei Zheleznyakov, who is part of the team of Russian figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze, responded to recent reports about a suspicious doping test that one of the skaters of the Russian national team had at the Beijing Olympics. Zheleznyakov said that he did not believe that anyone from the Russian team could violate anti-doping rules. "The guys took samples before the Games, most likely when they arrived and after their performances. We were staying at the hotel without getting out, but now they suddenly found something, and it happened right after the gold medal,” Alexei Zheleznyakov, who choreographs the Russian figure skaters in Beijing wrote on his Facebook account.

Kamila Valieva, Russian figure skating phenomenon, failed her performance and was ranked fourth in the free skating program at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. When Kamila finished her performance, Tutberidze asked her why she stopped fighting during the performance. "Well, why did you let go of everything? Well, explain, you let go somewhere after the axel,” said the coach to her 15-year-old athlete.

The prosecutor on Thursday requested 9.5 years in prison for American basketball player Brittney Griner, accused of smuggling hash oil, RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the Khimki courtroom. “By partial addition, I finally ask you to appoint nine years and six months in prison with a sentence to be served in a general regime colony with a fine of one million rubles,” the state prosecutor said in his speech. Griner pleaded guilty in court, but stressed that she had no intent to commit a crime, and she "collected the bag in a hurry." During the consideration of the case, it became known that a doctor from the state of Arizona prescribed marijuana to her instead of traditional painkillers due to the side effects of the latter.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) has canceled the suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes, a message posted on the official website of the organization says. The board of directors of the association voted for the admission of boxers from Russia and Belarus to international competitions. The decisions comes into force immediately, the IBA said. "The IBA strongly believes that politics shouldn't have any influence on sports. Hence, all athletes should be given equal conditions. Respecting its own autonomy as the international sports federation, the IBA shall remain politically neutral and independent,” the organization said in a statement.

The head of the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, Irina Viner, announced that her athletes would no longer compete at international tournaments in a neutral status, TASS reports. According to Viner, until recently Russian athletes could only count on one place in victory at the Games. "What's the point of that? There's no flag, no anthem, no communication, no fans, but there's special uniforms and special music. It would be a shame if we go there. This would be very humiliating for Russia. Russian rhythmic gymnasts will not go there for certain. We will never again perform without the Russian flag and anthem," said Viner.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs put Russian fencers Sergei and Violetta Bida on wanted list after the athletes left for the United States. At the same time, it remains unknown which article of the Russian Criminal Code was used to put the two world medalists in fencing on wanted list. Tokyo Olympics vice-champion Sergei Bida and his wife, world medalist Violetta Bida (nee Khrapina) left Russia without permission. The athletes were active officers of the Russian Guard, but they voluntarily left Russia in 2023 and moved to the United States (to California). Sergei was a member of Dynamo Moscow and had the rank of a warrant officer of the Russian Guard; Violetta Bida was an active service member of the Ministry of Defence at CSKA Moscow.

Russian federal TV channels may refuse to broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics from South Korean Pyeongchang should the Russian delegation be suspended, the Vedomosti newspaper wrote. For the time being, Russia's three major TV channels - Channel One, Rossiya-1 (part of VGTRK) and Match TV (part of Gazprom Media) plan to broadcast Winter Olympics from South Korea. Yet, if the Russian national team is excluded from the Games, Channel One and Rossiya-1 will most likely refuse to broadcast the Olympics. Naturally, Russian people watch Olympic Games to support Russian athletes in the first place. If no Russian athletes take part in the Games, the audience of the major sports event of this winter will decease sharply, representatives of the above-mentioned channels say. It makes no sense for major channels to pay millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast the Games, if they make no money from advertising because of low ratings.

An anonymous assistant to President Putin has had a few meetings with winter sports coaches, during which he "in a mild form" recommended to refuse from participating in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. According to All Sports agency, an official from the Kremlin administration, whose name remains anonymous, specified that it would have to be the athletes themselves to make such a decision. The talks of the of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) commission with representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) took place in Moscow this week. The meetings were devoted to the structure of the Russian delegation during the Games in South Korea. The next day it became known that a number of prominent Russian athletes with an unblemished reputation, including biathlete Anton Shipulin, skier Sergei Ustyugov and speed skater Victor An, as well as the leaders of hockey and speed skating teams were not invited to the competitions, even though those athletes were not listed either in Richard McLaren or Denis Oswald reports. On Tuesday, the press service of the Russian Ice Skating Federation said that the IOC did not allow Russian figure skaters Ksenia Stolbova and Ivan Bukin to participate in the 2018 Winter Games without explaining the reasons. Representatives for the Russian Ice Skating Federation expressed their indignation about the absurd decision and started to defend the honour and dignity of athletes in all possible ways.The Russian Olympic Committee prepares to give a hard estimate to IOC's actions and request appropriate explanations.Following those events, Russian politicians assumed that the IOC was pushing Russia to boycott the Winter Games 2018 and exit the Olympic movement."If no explanations follow, perhaps Russian athletes will have to revise their decision regarding the participation in the Olympics in Pyeongchang. They wanted to make us boycott the Games before, but as soon as they realised that we were not going to do it, they decided to suspend clean athletes with perfect reputations. This looks like political blackmail and creates conditions for unfair victories at the Olympics," chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture Mikhail Degtyarev told Sport Express newspaper. On December 5, the IOC Executive Committee decided that only clean Russian athletes would be able to perform at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang under the Olympic flag. Two special committees of the IOC have reduced the list of 500 applicants to 389 names so far. The final structure of the Russian delegation will be announced on January 28. On December 6, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would not boycott the Games. Pravda.Ru

What if it was WADA employees who opened sample bottles of Russian athletes and then arranged a major provocation against Russia in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee? This could be possible, taking into consideration the fact that the US Justice Department announced the beginning of investigation into cases of corruption inside the IOC immediately after Federal Security Bureau and Foreign Intelligence Service officers visited the United States. Representatives of the US Justice Department announced the beginning of investigation into corruption in such international sports organizations as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Football Federation (FIFA), the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and the National Olympic Committee of the United States, The New York Times newspaper wrote. Soon afterwards, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne made a positive decision regarding 28 appeals from 39 Russian athletes, whom the IOC had suspended from from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. It looks like the anti-doping campaign against Russia could be a major a political operation, the goal of which was to discredit Russia and its president in front of the whole world.

More surprises: Japan and Senegal Japan beat Colombia 2-1, the same result as the Senegal versus Poland game   

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended Russia from all international competitions - including Olympic Games and world championships - for four years. Russian athletes will receive the right to participate in them if it is confirmed that they are "clean." However, they will be able to perform only under the neutral flag (including at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022). In addition, Russia will not be allowed to host major world championships, nor will it be able to apply for them, while Russian officials will not be able to attend them. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will lose the right to test athletes for doping.Russia will thus miss: 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing2022 World Cup in Qatar2021 World Student Games  2023 World Student GamesBecause of the ban, Russia probably will not be able to host the 2020 World Chess Olympiad, 2020 and 2021 World Ice Hockey Championships, the 2021 Women Hockey World Championship, the 2021 Beach Soccer World Cup, the 2022 Volleyball Men's World Championship, the World Wrestling Championship in 2022, the 2023 Summer Universiade-2023, the World Ice Hockey Championship in 2023 and other competitions. Their venues will be rescheduled, while Russian athletes will be able to take part in those tournaments only in neutral status, if proved clean.145 athletes, whose doping samples disappeared from the database of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, were thus removed from competitions. The names of the athletes remain unknown. Russia delivered the database to WADA in January 2019 in order to lift all restrictions on participation in international competitions. Having studied the base, WADA experts came to conclusion that someone had made changes to it. The story continued until the beginning of 2019, although by that time the Russian Investigative Committee had seized the base as material evidence on the case of the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov.The head of RUSADA, Yuri Ganus, called WADA's new claims a "tragedy." Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called it an "anti-Russian series." Ganus suggested that it was Russian sports officials, who authorized changes to the database of doping samples to protect the reputation of former athletes, who currently take high positions. PM Dmitry Medvedev called WADA's sanctions "a continuation of the anti-Russian hysteria that has taken a chronic form."WADA originally wanted to bar Russian athletes from international sports competitions entirely. The head of the WADA Compliance Review Committee (CRC), Jonathan Taylor, said that the agency was seriously considering a possibility to remove Russian athletes from competitions entirely, but former athletes assumed that representatives of a new generation of Russian athletes should have an opportunity to participate in competitions."Russia may appeal against WADA's decision within 21 days. In the next ten days, the RUSADA Supervisory Board will announce whether Russia is going to file a lawsuit at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes that Russia should fight, but the head of RUSADA, Yuri Ganus, said that Russia would have no chances to win such a lawsuit. Almost a year ago, Yuri Ganus warned President Putin of the imminent sanctions. However, the Kremlin simply said that Ganus was overreacting as he was not familiar with the process to deliver the data to WADA.The report from the CRC said that there was a whole team working at the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, for the purpose to conceal changes in the database before delivering it to WADA. It is believed that the team was editing the data related to the winners of the Sochi-2014 Games, who retained their medals following the trial.As a result, WADA found inconsistencies between the two versions of the databases from the Moscow laboratory. WADA received the first version of the database from Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the agency, who had fled Russia. The second version was received from the Russian authorities in exchange for restoring the status of RUSADA. During the interval, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation sealed the laboratory as part of the federal investigation. The Russian authorities of the Russian Federation claim that nobody had manipulated the database.

Should the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR) support its colleagues in Belarus and declare a boycott of the 2021 Ice Hockey World Cup in Latvia in protest against the interference of politics in sports? Fasel explains why Belarus can not host Ice Hockey tournament President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Rene Fasel said in an interview with TASS that the decision to cancel the World Ice Hockey Championship in Minsk was made under political pressure. "I realized that the reaction from the Eastern European, Western media and the political pressure was very strong, especially in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. I would say that it is more about political pressure rather than the situation with sponsors. This is a bad situation, but I think that it is very difficult for us to go against it," Rene Fasel said.

Does Russia want its athletes humiliated at the Olympic Games again? Will Russia boycott the Games this time? Olympic alternative to Russian national anthem In December 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) prohibited Russian athletes from performing at world championships and Olympic Games under the national flag and deprived them of the right to perform the Russian national anthem. To crown it all, Russia was deprived of the right to host such sports events too.A number of active Russian politicians started looking for an alternative to the Russian national anthem and picked up the idea for the Russian athletes to perform ​​the famous WWII song "Katyusha." Some of them were not even embarrassed by the fact that the IOC requires not to include any mentioning of any war or any war-related topic in the Games, including in opening and closing ceremonies. They apparently assumed that the rest of the world should accept World War II as an excuse for Russia's current problems. On March 13, 2021, CAS rejected the request from the Russian Olympic Committee to use the "Katyusha" song as a replacement for the Russian anthem at the upcoming Olympic Games in the summer of 2021 in Tokyo and in February 2022 in Beijing. The court clarified that the concept of "any anthem associated with Russia" applied to all songs associated with Russia. However, the court decision did not close the discussion in Russia anyway, and the search for the replacement for the Russian national anthem continues. Does Russia need the white flag in sports? This is strange indeed: if Russia can stand up against the world supremacist state in Syria, return territories in Europe, ignore the work in the Council of Europe and make harsh statements about its readiness to terminate relations with the European Union, then why not slam the door to the IOC?Why should Russia should feel humiliated to participate in the Olympics? Those who believe that one needs to think about the athletes and their most important sports competitions, may forget to think that it goes about Russian athletes being Russian citizens. Does Russia need athletes that do not want to sacrifice their achievements and victories for sake of their country's dignity? Or does Russia need to live up to the interests of a handful of athletes to the detriment of its own national interests and interests of millions of other Russian citizens, who are not thrilled at the whole idea of Russia's sports humiliation?

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva said that she was emotionally tired of the doping scandal, in which she found herself at the Beijing Olympics. "These days have been very hard for me, there are not enough emotions. I am happy, but I am emotionally tired. There are tears of happiness and grief a little. But, of course, I am happy to be at the Olympics. I will try to represent our country and I hope that I will be as motivated as possible to show a good result,” said Valieva. According to the athlete, she saw all the good wishes, and even banners in her support in the streets of Moscow.

More than 100 tons of gold were found on Sovinoye deposit in Chukotka (a region in the Far East of Russia). This is the largest deposit to have been discovered since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Atomredmetzoloto Company (ARMZ), a mining division of Rosatom state corporation said. Drilling operations were carried under continuous permafrost conditions all the year round, the company said. In just three years, 123 wells were drilled (more than 32 km in total). At the moment, all prospecting, topographic-geodetic, geological-geochemical and geophysical works on the deposit have been completed. Rosatom invested more than 1 billion rubles to create a mining cluster based on the Sovinoye deposit. The project provides for the creation of an industrial complex for the extraction and processing of gold ores with the further production of alloyed gold bars.

State testing of the Stretta laser range system may begin in April, a source in the Russian military-industrial complex told TASS. "State tests of the Stretta system are to begin on April 1 of this year. They will last for about three months,” the source told the agency. There is no official confirmation to this information, though.

Residents of the Far East of Russia could observe the movement of a space object in the sky. It is believed that the phenomenon that eyewitnesses filmed on video was Comet Pons-Brooks. This comet nears the Earth once in every 71 years. Huge luminous stripes appeared in the evening sky above the Khabarovsk and other neighbouring regions of Russia. The luminous object split into parts and slowly moved in the sky. Some observers thought they saw a rocket take off, or the passage of a comet or meteorite.

Russian engineers developed a wireless headphone jammer that is going to be put to the test at railway crossings. Students from the Institute of Radio Engineering Systems and Control of Southern Federal University developed a jamming device that turns off wireless headphones at railway tracks. The micro-controller of the device detects the Bluetooth signal from the headphones in its range and reboots the 2.4 GHz frequency on which Bluetooth and Wi-Fi operate. This causes the sound in the headphones to disappear, and the person will be able to hear the train or the alarm at the crossing.

The Orion upper stage of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket launched the Gagarinets small satellite into low Earth orbit, Roscosmos said on its Telegram channel. "The Cubesat 3U format satellite was created by Russian private company Avant Space and is intended to test elements of the service platform,” the state corporation said. After the launch of the Gagarinets, the upper stage continued its work.

The United States has stopped research into new cancer treatments in Russia, Andrey Kaprin, oncologist at the Russian Ministry of Health, General Director of the National Medical Research Center of Radiology said. According to the expert, the United States independently refused to continue research into new cancer therapy. In particular, the US stopped cooperation on protocols. The corresponding decision of the United States has not affected cancer patients in Russia. On the contrary, domestic fundamental science was given a powerful impetus for development, he noted. "The most important thing that we have come to realise is that we need to create our own,” said the oncologist.

The UFL-2M laser system, which is often called the "Tsar Laser" due to its unique technical specifications and power performance, will be fully operational by approximately 2028-2029, Valentin Kostyukov, Director of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center said in an interview with Russia-24 TV channel. "We have launched the first stage of physical foundations associated with engineering systems," Kostyukov said, admitting that the system will yield results in the next four to five years. The UFL-2M laser system was developed at the Sarov Nuclear Center. The system is needed for modeling and designing new types of nuclear weapons. It is used to study the processes that occur at the moment of explosion. There are only three countries in the world that have such technology: the United States, France, and Russia.

India and China evince interest in the Russian nuclear power plant project on the Moon, TASS reports with reference to Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev. "The new solution that we are asked to implement is a version of a lunar nuclear power plant with an energy capacity of up to half a megawatt,” Likhachev said at the Eastern Economic Forum. In May, Roscosmos Director Yuri Borisov said that a Russian-made nuclear installation for a joint Russian-Chinese station would be sent to the Moon after 2036. Borisov also said that the development of a nuclear power plant for a joint lunar station with China had already begun.

Russian specialists designed the Buran cargo drone that can be used to deliver cargo to the front line, developer company Kotlin-Novator told the Izvestia newspaper. The UAV weighs about 80 kilograms and can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour. If unloaded, the drone can stay airborne for 45 minutes. The six rotor hexacopter can deliver up to 80 kilograms of ammunition, water, and other cargo to supply troops on the front line.

A reader wrote: On Wednesday, January 6, Republican supporters tried to prevail outgoing president wish to remain in the White House by hook or crook has exposed the democratic norms of mighty America. The majority that has elected Joe Biden as next president of United States are watching and repenting why they tollerated such an unscrupulous man. Acts of his Vice President Pence have also open the eyes of people that he is acting more loyal than the king and supporting Trump desire to perpetuate in power even after his defeat shows the early signs that the process of US imploding from within has been ignited. Vice President and a handful of Republicans are adding fuel to fire and claiming the popular votes and electoral votes have been stolen by misleading the innocent simple voters by giving wrong information. We in the third world feel sorry for poor US voters now working on the same recipe of crippling normal working of state apparatus by street demonstration and sit-ins as CIA operatives use to spread in other countries not following on their dotted lines.

Russia will use Buk and Pantsir air defense systems against Israeli Air Force aircraft. Analysts say that Russian officials have repeatedly declared that Israeli aviation poses a threat to the Russian military in Syria. According to British publication Rai Al Youm, Russia may use its complexes to cover the Syrian sky from Israeli air raids. Experts of the publication note that Israel, while striking Iranian groups in Syria, endangers the Russian military.

Alexander Perendzhiev, a member of the expert council of Russian Officers, candidate of political sciences, gave his assessment to the warning from American analysts about the likelihood of NATO troops entering Ukraine. According to him, the direct intervention of the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance in the Russian special operation in Ukraine will change the course of the operation and provoke a full-scale war with Russia. The presence of American and NATO military personnel on the territory of a neighboring country is a threat to the existence of the Russian Federation as a state, the political scientist explained. In this case, Moscow will resort to nuclear weapons, he stressed.

The United States has been losing its global hegemony. The non-western world is opposed to the concept of global hegemony. Everything will happen within the next decade, Western analysts predict. Nevertheless, the Americans still have a chance to achieve the world order that suits them, if they make certain concessions, Jorgen Erstroem Moeller, former State Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in an article for The National Interest. Moeller drew attention to Vladimir Putin's announcement of partial call-up of reservists, the referenda and saw a threat of the use of nuclear force. The situation is indeed very alarming, but the United States could now take the world out of chaos that was created by Russia and the United States. At the same time, chances for Washington to demonstrate common sense are slim as the US has contributed greatly to the current crisis as well. 

My Thought of the Day  A Pentagon enforcement agent twice had arrived in Cyprus to make sure our government complies with all the American instructions on sanctions against Russia in support of Ukraine and also to insist on the prosecution of Greek Cypriots and Companies who continue to disobey their instructions! The Cyprus government promised to prosecute all of those found guilty. That’s a pre-condition for purchasing arms from America! The EU on the other hand behaves in a much worse manner; not only Cyprus it’s ordered to impose EU sanctions against Russians at the detriment of its own economy, but it also demands social, judicial and economic obedience on how to run the country. If that’s not bad enough, Cyprus it’s also punished with massive fines for rule breaking! Meanwhile, Turkey is busy with the Islamization of the occupied northern part of our island! Last week it turned its attention to desecrate the most sacred Christian monastery of Apostolos Andreas and has proceeded to turn part of it into a Muslim prayer mosque. This is a blatant insult to all Orthodox Greeks and an inexcusable desecration to the Hellenic Orthodox faith. The Cyprus government has decided to make an “official complaint” to the UN, knowing it would amount to nothing! And, here we are! From one frying pan straight into another!  Is Cyprus a free nation or a subservient state incapable of producing a strong decisive government to run the country and develop its own policies free from foreign meddling but instead, bows subservience to the EU—and now the United States doctrine— by showing absolute submissiveness? Is there hope for a country governed by such a mentality? Andreas C ChrysafisAuthor/Artist/WriterAugust 1 2023

The United States is holding the 60th presidential election on Tuesday, November 5. US citizens also elect a vice president, 468 congressmen, governors of 11 states and representatives to local governments. The Democratic Party in the elections is represented by the current US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for a seat in the Oval Office, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Harris's running mate if she wins. Their Republican rivals are the 45th former US President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator James David Vance. By tradition, the elections first began at midnight in New Hampshire. Six out of six registered residents of Dixville Notch cast their ballots: three for Harris, three for Trump.

In addition to promises regarding domestic policy, the candidates in the current US presidential elections have released indicative statements about their attitude to major international conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spoken about Russia as well to outline how they would build future relations with Moscow. Trump has repeatedly stated that he will quickly end the conflict in Ukraine should he return to the Oval Office. "I will literally call two people the same night that I am announced as the winner: Putin and Zelensky. We will make a deal within 24 hours," Trump said.

US President Joe Biden may take drastic actions before he resigns, Alexander Yakovenko, a member of the scientific council at the Security Council of the Russian Federation and former Russian Ambassador to the UK believes. "Biden and his administration are still in power as a lame duck. In December 2016, Barack Obama similarly decided to sharply aggravate relations with Russia by expelling 35 Russian diplomats. The same can be expected now, especially in Ukraine,” Yakovenko said. Trump will take up US foreign affairs before his inauguration while trying to push the current administration out of decision-making processes, Yakovenko suggested.

On November 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi. The head of state announced a war for a new world order, spoke about guarantees of the West not to use nuclear weapons, and warned of difficult years to come. According to the Russian leader, the old world order is going down in history and the moment of truth was coming. "A serious, irreconcilable struggle is unfolding for the formation of a new [world order]. It is irreconcilable because this is not even a fight for power or geopolitical influence. This is a clash of the very principles on which relations between countries and peoples will be built at the next historical stage," Putin said.

US President-elect Donald Trump allowed for a possibility of talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after his victory in the US presidential election. He has already spoken with 70 world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but Putin was not among them, Trump said. "I think we'll talk," US President-elect Donald Trump said. In an interview with NBC, Trump also noted that he had agreed to have lunch with US President Joe Biden in the near future.

Unethical, as amoral as it is immoral, puerile, unprofessional,  criminal, shallow, devious and Lite. Western foreign policy. In short, it is a policy which is puerile, Lite and criminal. When I was twelve years old in 1970, I wrote a letter to Leonid Brezhnev, warning the USSR that Western foreign policy was all of the above and if I remember correctly, I used exactly these same words. The answer from the Kremlin was a very polite and agreeable letter in which it was stated the Soviet Union followed international law and favoured a multilateral world in which everyone played by the same set of weights and measures, or words to that effect.

India's strategic pivot towards liquefied natural gas (LNG) is set to redefine its energy landscape, especially amid the shifting dynamics of global energy trade. Earlier this year, GAIL (India) Ltd, the country's largest government-owned natural gas company, secured a 10-year LNG purchase agreement with Vitol, a global energy trader with extensive operations in Russia. This deal, which begins in 2026, will ensure approximately 1 million metric tons (mt) of LNG annually, including gas sourced from Russia. This agreement is instrumental for India as it strives to elevate natural gas consumption to 15% of its energy mix by 2030. India's LNG imports have demonstrated considerable variability, reflecting its dependence on this critical energy source. Imports surged to 3,516 million standard cubic meters (MMSCM) in May but fell to 2,794 MMSCM in July. Over the first four months of the year, LNG accounted for a substantial 12,269 MMSCM out of a total gas consumption of 24,210 MMSCM, underscoring the country's reliance on imported LNG to meet its growing energy needs. This volatility highlights the strategic importance of agreements, like the one with Vitol and the one between Novatek and Deepak Fertilisers, signed in February 2023, for both spot and long-term supply contract markets in securing energy stability. Russia, for its part, has been adapting its LNG export strategy in response to global pressures and the evolving market landscape. In the first half of 2024, Russian LNG imports to Europe rose by 11% from last year, with Russia supplying 69.95 million mt so far. Despite a general decline in European gas consumption and a shift toward long-term contracts, Russian LNG remained a significant portion of imports, with France alone seeing a 110% increase. This demonstrates the resilience of Russian LNG in maintaining its foothold in European markets. Additionally, Russia's LNG exports to China have also seen growth, with 1.648 million mt shipped in the first quarter of 2024-a 2% increase from the previous year.

Did Iran conduct an underground nuclear test on October 5? Iran will build a nuclear bomb anyway, and the US and Israel will have to occupy it not to let it happen. Iran May Have Conducted an Underground Nuclear Explosion An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale was recorded in the desert of Iran's Semnan province at 10:45 a. m. on October 5, Iranian news agency Mehr reported. The US Geological Survey said that the epicenter of the earthquake was only 10 kilometers below the ground. Iranian sources announced different number — 12 kilometers. What puzzles experts most is that the earthquake had no early warning issued.

The summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was a formality, but the issue at hand is the security of the Russian Federation. Moscow needs to change its attitude towards its neighbours before it is too late. The following leaders attended the CIS summit at the personal invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Moldovan President Maia Sandu did not attend.

The BRICS summit in Kazan has formalized Russia's leadership in real decolonization and creation of developed economies based on its own strength. First steps have been named and are clear to everyone. Russia accepted as a new leader in the world The fact that 32 heads of state and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres gathered in Kazan, Russia, during the times of the special military operation has demonstrated the decline of US influence in the world and the emergence of Russia as its leader. A country with 3.5 percent of global GDP in purchasing power parity was able to withstand harsh sanctions and three years of war with NATO at the hands of Ukrainians. The West that dominates the world economy with 40 percent is clearly losing the game to Russia on all fronts. It is about the ability, desire and readiness to defend one's national interests on the battlefield and mobilize one's economy. This is valued and respected in the world, and no one saw this in the Western camp.

Robert Fico became the first NATO leader to have given an interview to Russian media after the start of the special military operation and he made some very bold statements in it. The West fails to bring Russia to its knees Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico gave an interview to Russian journalist Olga Skabeeva on the state-run Rossiya-1 TV channel. He started his interview with a Slovak proverb that says that "no one on their knees can be considered defeated — perhaps they are just tying their shoelaces."