Life in Belarus Village

Recently a Belarus president has been mentioned in news for him supposedly wanting to restrict the villagers of Belarus from changing their place of residence and place of work, chaining them to their current locations. Later they said the press didn’t get his words right and he didn’t want to enslave the peasants but were on contrary talking about the managers calling them not to change workplaces and to stay where they are.

Anyways those are the photos from AP about Belarus and the life in its villages.

---

---

Читать далее ...

Litographs of Old Russia

Copyright © 2013 English

Russia All the materials on this

site are submitted by the read-

ers trough feedback form or

acqulred thru the open sources

like, but not limited to

blogs.2leep.com, flickr.com etc.

Powered by WordPress

Читать далее ...

Report of Imperial Russian Hunt: We Hunted 719 Dogs and 1010 Cats

Annual reports of Russian Emperors hunt were published in work-of-art hand painted bulletins, annually. Those are examples of those, with a detailed list of how much of each specie has been hunted down. For example the Imperial Hunt Bulletin of 1908 reports that they have hunted down:

---

---

Sixteen bears,

Six bobcats,

Seven elks,

Three deers,

453 hares.

Also tens of badgers, some otters, martens, hundreds of ferrets and ermines.

Looks pretty normal for the hunters, till things don’t go as bas as:

“in year 1908 it was hunted Seven hundred and twelve stray dogs, one thousand two hundred eighty five cats.”. WHAT?! Can this be some sort of a mistake or coded words for something else?

Looks like no. Let’s see the imperial hunt bulletin of 1900 – “in 1902 719 stray dogs and 1010 cats hunted down”

Year 1902: 899 dogs, 1322 cats…

Year 1911: total 631 dogs and 1177 cats.

Well, I am not sure that emperor family in person has hunted dogs and cats, however for some reason they are included in the reports for some reason.

Usually hunt was held to get the meat or to get the fur, however what was the purpose to hunt down the cats?

via

Читать далее ...

Abandoned Sand Quarry

Copyright © 2013 English

Russia All the materials on this

site are submitted by the read-

ers trough feedback form or

acqulred thru the open sources

like, but not limited to

blogs.2leep.com, flickr.com etc.

Powered by WordPress

Читать далее ...

Turkey's Erdogan Hails Russia's Efforts to Improve Situation of Crimean Tatars

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday praised Russia’s actions to improve the living conditions and legitimate rights of Tatars residing on the Crimean Peninsula, the Kremlin said.

According to the Kremlin press service, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister discussed the situation of Crimean Tatars and the crisis in Ukraine in a phone call.

“The Prime Minister of Turkey gave a positive assessment of the decisions made by the Russian president to improve the situation of Crimean Tatars and to ensure their fully-fledged participation in the political and social life in Crimea,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

In late April, Putin signed a decree on the rehabilitation of Crimean Tatars who suffered during Stalin-era repressions.

Crimean Tatars, a historic people of the region, were deported en masse to Central Asia by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin 70 years ago. Although many of them returned in the early 1990s, they were unable to reclaim the land they had possessed before their deportation.

Many Crimean Tatars have taken over unclaimed land as squatters by building houses, farms and mosques. Ukrainian authorities have in the past failed to settle the land disputes.

Currently some 260,000 Crimean Tatars live on the peninsula.

Citizens of Crimea, previously an autonomous republic within Ukraine, expressed their will to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia following the February overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych and a subsequent change of power.

On March 16, Crime held a referendum which saw over 96 percent of its voters support the initiative to become part of Russia. On March 21 the peninsula officially became a subject of the Russian Federation after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed reunification documents into law.

Читать далее ...

Putin Holds Phone Talks with Turkey’s Erdogan on Ukrainian Crisis

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Friday in a phone conversation with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the situation in Ukraine after the presidential election of May25, Kremlin’s Press Service said.

“The leaders have exchanged, among other things, opinions over the situation in Ukraine in the light of the presidential election that was held. Putin expressed a serious concern over the ongoing punitive operation by Kiev’s authorities in the southeastern [regions] of the country,” Kremlin’s Press Service said.

According to the statement, Putin hoped that the new authorities in Ukraine would stop military actions against civilians and move toward a direct dialogue with the representatives of the regions.

Earlier on Friday Ukraine’s interim Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval said that the special operation that already led to numerous casualties among both the Ukrainian army and self-defense forces would continue until the situation in the region came back to normal.

Ukraine’s President-elect Petro Poroshenko announced right after the May 25 vote that he backed the continuation of the special operation though stressed that it should become shorter and more effective.

Ahead of the May 25 presidential election the Ukrainian parliament adopted a memorandum on peace and accord, which among other things renounced the use of force by all the sides of the conflict. Despite the motion right after the vote an active phase of the special operation, which was suspended for the polling day, resumed.

Читать далее ...

Russia Concerned by US Plans to Boost Military Aid to Syrian Opposition Militants

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is concerned by the media reports on the US plans to ramp up support for the Syrian opposition because the military aid may end up in the hands of the terrorists, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

“Media reports on the fact that the US Administration is planning to increase its military aid to the ‘right’ militants of the Syrian opposition evoke serious concerns,” according to the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“We are convinced that the carrying out of such plans leads to a further escalation of the bloodletting conflict in Syria. In addition, chances are high that the weapons delivered to the ‘right militants’ may fall into the hands of terrorists who may use them anywhere in the world, including against their foreign protectors,” the ministry said.

The ministry expressed hope that the parties would agree on a truce in “the last stronghold of government forces in Homs, the al-Waar neighborhood.”

US media earlier cited White House sources claiming that President Barack Obama was about to approve a new aid program to strengthen moderate Syrian rebels.

The civil war in Syria broke out in 2011, following the unrest that swept the Arab world three years ago, known as the Arab Spring.

Читать далее ...

Kiev May File Lawsuit Against Gazprom Friday – Ukrainian Energy Minister

BERLIN, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev may sue Russia in the Stockholm-based international arbitration court amid the ongoing dispute of gas prices, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan said Friday.

Speaking to journalists ahead of the three-party gas meeting in Berlin, Prodan said his country may file the suit “soon, quite possibly today.”

The minister also confirmed the position of the Ukrainian government that the payment of the debts is possible only after Russia agrees to cut down the price.

Kiev’s decision to take the Russian gas giant to court is another attempt to seek the revision of its debt and the gas price, which Kiev finds excessive.

The gas price for Ukraine surged from $268.5 to $485.50 per 1,000 cubic meters in April after Russia annulled two discounts granted previously to the country.

Kiev keeps rejecting the new price saying it was ready to clear its debt if Moscow agreed to sell gas at the old price, whereas Moscow says it is ready to discuss possible discounts only after it receives first payments.

Earlier this week EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said that Ukraine’s gas debt to Russia had reached $4 billion upgrading the previous figure of $3.5.

Simultaneously the Gazpom CEO announced that Ukraine would owe Russia about $5.2 billion for natural gas as of June 7 if it makes no payments by that date.

According to Gazprom, Ukraine’s Naftogaz halted all payments in November.

Читать далее ...

Russian Lawmakers to Submit Bill on Ukraine's Southeastern Regions' Status

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) believes that Kiev is "illegally occupying" eight regions of the Southeast of Ukraine, and prepares a draft law on the status of these territories.

"Due to the unstable situation around the Southeastern part of Ukraine, the LDPR faction intends to submit a draft law on occupied territories of Russia in the nearest future," the press service of the party reported.

"The Kiev government is illegally occupying all eight regions of the Southeast of Ukraine," the press service stated, noting that the party hopes that these regions would be able to follow Crimea’s example and join Russia.

The Liberal Democratic Party believes that all the territories that once belonged to Russia or the Soviet Union should once again have the Russian flag fly over them, especially in those regions “where Russians have always lived, where they tamed all the lands, where they built cities, and first of all, these are the eight regions that want to be Novorossiya and that do not want to have anything in common with Ukraine anymore."

"Let us hope that if the law is passed, it will provide speedy de-occupation of the Southeastern regions of Ukraine that will be able to exist as a new state," the statement said.

Previously, Donetsk People’s Republic Governor Pavel Gubarev said May 18 that there is a strong chance for the unification of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which he believes will be the basis of a new state: Novorossiya.

Following Crimea’s reunification with Russia in mid-March, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics in eastern Ukraine held referendums on self-determination on May 11, with over 90 percent of voters supporting greater autonomy.

The interim Kiev government, backed by the Western allies, refused to recognize the legitimacy of any of these decisions and launched in April a military operation against the federalization protesters in the Southeastern Ukraine.

Multiple attempts by the international mediators to start the de-escalation process have so far been unsuccessful, with the Kiev government refusing to halt the military actions even after the recent early presidential election in the country.

Читать далее ...

Russia Says No Gas Payments From Kiev as of Thursday

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – As of Thursday evening, Moscow has not received any gas debt payments from Kiev, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.

He reiterated that Russia was not ready to discuss any gas discounts until Kiev repays at least a part of its debt, which may hit $5.2 billion in May.

“Naturally, our position remains unchanged,” Alexander Novak said.

Ukraine’s gas debt to Russia currently stands at $4 billion, according to EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger. Kiev continues to reject the new price of $485 per thousand cubic meters of Russian gas.

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom earlier announced a switch to a prepayment scheme, in full accordance with the 2009 energy contract between Russia and Ukraine.

Following the decision, an advance bill was sent to Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz for June deliveries, with supplies to be suspended starting June 3 if the debt is not repaid.

Earlier this week, Ukraine said its oil and gas company, Naftogaz, had hired a Swedish law firm to represent it in court as it prepares litigation against Gazprom over its pricing policy.

Читать далее ...

Russia to Spend Up to $147Mln on Altai Solar Power Plants

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is going to invest up to $147 million in eco-friendly solar energy grids in the country’s southern Altai region close to Kazakhstan, according to the state-run Avelar construction firm.

Avelar has struck a deal with another state-owned company, Khevel, and the local government in Altai to build enough solar and hybrid power plants by 2018 to sell the generated green energy on the market.

“Under the agreement, we are to construct solar power plants in the Altai republic with the total energy generation capacity up to 45mw to supply the Wholesale Electric Energy and Power Market,” Avelar said in its statement Friday.

The green energy firm is also to build autonomous solar-powered diesel stations with a total generation of 200kw capacity in remote areas of the region, where the landscape varies from rolling grasslands and foothills to steep Altai Mountains.

Avelar has already launched a project to build a 5mw solar power grid in Altai’s Kosh-Agach area, one of the sunniest places in Russia with solar activity comparable to that in southern Italy. It will be the region’s first solar power plant, and hopes are it will help Altai to quench its energy thirst.

Читать далее ...

Russia, Kazakhstan Extend Oil Supplies Deal Up to 2025

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and Kazakhstan have extended the intergovernmental agreement on trade and economic cooperation on supplies of crude oil and refined products up to 2025, a Russian deputy energy minister told journalists Friday.

“The agreement has been prolonged until 2025. It is synchronized with the current contracts up to 2019 plus five-year-long periods by which the contract is automatically extended, if within six months one of the sides does not inform the other on the decision to withdraw from the deal,” Anatoly Yanovsky said.

The document was signed in Astana on Thursday. Also on Thursday, Moscow signed new oil deals with Belarus and Kazakhstan as the three countries merged into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAU).

This year, Kazakhstan plans to import around 1 million tons of petroleum and some 600,000 or 650,000 tons of diesel oil from Russia. Local oil refinery plants plan to produce 2.9 million tons of petroleum with consumption estimated at 4.2 million tons in 2014.

Under the Russian-Kazakh intergovernmental agreement up to 2025, quotas will be established for duty-free supplies from Russia of oil and light oil products, while Kazakhstan’s supplies of light oil products to third countries as well as black oil products from Russia to Kazakhstan are banned.

Читать далее ...

Moscow Surprised by Kiev’s Move to Reject Russian Humanitarian Aid

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow is surprised by Kiev’s rejection of proposed Russian aid to violence-hit eastern Ukraine and hopes that the interim government will reconsider its decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry notified Ukraine on Wednesday that it was ready to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to eastern regions. The Ukrainian side was requested to take all measures needed for safe transportation of the Russian humanitarian cargo.

“While fully ignoring the humanitarian assistance issue and the sufferings of people in eastern regions of Ukraine, where people are being killed daily in Kiev’s military operation and the number of injured and affected people is growing, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry cynically talks about the situation in Crimea, which, in the Ukrainian side’s opinion… is allegedly on the verge of a ‘humanitarian disaster,’” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Ukraine’s response to its proposal “raises eyebrows, to say the least.”

“Taking into account Kiev’s continuing military actions against the population of Ukraine’s eastern regions, the need for urgent humanitarian assistance remains acute. Based on the general norms of human morality, we call on the Ukrainian authorities to eventually consider the issue of helping those who are badly in need for it,” the ministry said.

The ministry said despite Kiev’s allegations, the citizens of the Russian Republic of Crimea “have a possibility to live and work in peaceful and stable conditions.”

“By the way, the problems there are mainly linked to the blockade of transport hubs by Ukraine,” the ministry said.

Ukraine has been supplying up to 85 percent of Crimea’s fresh water through the North-Crimean channel that runs from Dnieper River. In April, in response to Crimea’s reunification with Russia, the Ukrainian government made a decision to halt all fresh water supplies to the peninsula citing republic’s unpaid debts for earlier supplies as a reason.

Crimea, previously an autonomous republic within Ukraine, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the government in Kiev, which seized power as a result of a coup in February, instead rejoining Russia after a referendum that saw over 96 percent of voters in the region back the motion to leave Ukraine.

Читать далее ...

Eurasian Economic Union to Help Change People's Lives – Russia's Medvedev

MINSK, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Eurasian integration is beneficial for Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan as it will help to improve people's lives, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday during a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

“Our colleagues, presidents, had been working hard but we got the result. Our countries are happy with that. Maybe someone doesn’t like it [Eurasian integration] that much but we realize that only by expanding this integration we can reach new levels of economic and national development, and thus improve our citizens’ quality of life which is of the utmost importance for any government,” he said.

The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on Thursday signed the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty in Astana that will enter into force on January 1, 2015.

The treaty is bringing Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus to a higher level of integration, as the three commit to guarantee the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor as well as the implementation of coordinated policies in key sectors, including energy, industry, agriculture and transport.

Читать далее ...

OPINION: US Attempts to Weaken Competitors by Derailing Russia-France Mistral Contracts

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – The efforts to derail the Mistral-class helicopter carrier contract between Russia and France by the US are an attempt to weaken the French defense industry, especially since NATO has no need for the ships, Igor Korotchenko, Editor-in-Chief of National Defense magazine, told RIA Novosti.

“Obviously, if this deal is derailed, Russia and France will have to reconsider their entire military-technical cooperation which currently includes not only Mistral-type carriers, but also other mutually profitable projects and agreements which significantly benefit Paris,” Korotchenko said.

On Friday, a group of American congressmen called on NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to purchase or lease two Mistral-class warships which are being constructed for Russia by France.

“We believe that the sale would send the wrong signal to President Putin – that it is ‘business as usual’ – and would enhance Russia’s military capabilities, even as President Putin has threatened further military actions against Russia’s neighbors,” lawmakers said in a letter to the NATO chief.

According to Korotchenko, the letter is “a US attempt to hit French defense industry and weaken America’s competitors in the market.”

France has been under increased pressure from the US and other EU countries over its refusal to cancel the 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) deal, claiming it is too big to go back on.

The first of the two ships, the Vladivostok, is due to be delivered by the end of this year, while the second, the Sevastopol, will arrive in November 2015 and will join the Pacific fleet in the second half of 2016, after it is outfitted with Russian weapons systems.

Читать далее ...

Russian Cooperation With Beijing Consistent With Japanese Ties – Russian Lawmaker

TOKYO, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Cooperation with Beijing does not contradict relations between Russia and Japan, which Moscow sees as a priority, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament told the Nikkei newspaper in an interview Friday.

“The Russian-Japanese relations are extremely important to security guarantees of Russia and the Asia-Pacific region. They do not contradict the Russian-Chinese relations,” State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said.

During President Vladimir Putin’s expected visit to Japan this fall, the sides could adopt a joint statement increasing the level of Russian-Japanese cooperation, Naryshkin added.

After Japan announced sanctions against Russia in mid-March amid the Ukrainian crisis, many Japanese politicians suggested that Moscow would toughen its stance against Japan.

In the interview, which comes ahead of Naryshkin’s June 2 visit to Japan, he said “dialogue among all the political forces” is the only way to ease tensions, including in Ukraine.

The Japanese government said in late April it will impose additional sanctions against Russia over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Tokyo said it will deny visas to 23 Russian nationals, including government officials, amid Moscow’s "lack of visible action to reduce tensions in Ukraine."

Naryshkin’s visit does not contradict the sanctions, as his name is not included on the list, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. During his visit, the Duma speaker plans to attend an opening ceremony of a Russian cultural festival in Japan.

Earlier this month, Naryshkin called on Japan’s leadership not to succumb to blackmail by the US over the situation in Ukraine.

At the recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), President Putin expressed Russia’s willingness to negotiate with Japan when asked about his visit to Tokyo.

Читать далее ...

Russia, Slovenian Foreign Ministers Discuss Ukrainian Crisis Settlement

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Slovenian counterpart Karl Erjavec met on Friday in Moscow to discuss the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

“Ukraine is the hottest topic nowadays. We hope for a confidential, honest exchange of views on how to start the fulfilling the principles of the road map drafted by the OSCE's Swiss Presidency as soon as possible. First of all we are talking about the end of violence and the launch of inclusive all-Ukrainian dialogue, including on the issue of constitutional reform,” Lavrov said.

The parties will also exchange views on EU issues, he added.

The ongoing clashes between nationalists and federalists in Ukraine's east and south have led to hundreds of deaths in recent months. The violence followed the unconstitutional overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych in February, which led to the reunification of the Crimean peninsula with Russia.

Читать далее ...

Russia Ready to Receive Refugee Children from Ukraine – Rights Ombudsman

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is ready to accept refugee children from the southeastern regions of Ukraine where fighting is ongoing, Russian Child Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said in a statement Friday.

“We are ready to receive all the children. All border areas – the Belgorod, Voronezh, and Kursk regions – welcome them into their territories. We are also ready to send them to Crimea," Astakhov was quoted as saying in the online statement.

“However, the problem is that these are children from a foreign state, Ukraine, and they can't be taken out of the country illegally. We will be accused of child abduction,” he added.

Russia is working on resolving this legal problem but there is also a serious problem with children from orphanages located in combat areas, the statement said, adding that there were reports that these orphans were short of food and beginning to starve.

“We are looking for acceptable legal ways to help these children get out of the combat zone, rescue them and let them have summer recreation on the territory of Russia,” the ombudsman said.

Astakhov earlier said he had received many requests from Ukrainian parents to rescue their children after he arranged for the return of an 11-year-old girl from besieged Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine to her home town of Belgorod, Russia.

The Russian ombudsman sent a letter to United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon informing him of the situation in southeastern Ukraine, where families are being shot as they attempt to leave the crisis-hit region.

In response to growing tensions in Ukraine’s eastern regions, the interim Ukrainian government announced the beginning of a special operation to crack down on the protesters in mid-April. The operation, which allowed the use of military force against civilians, has led to dozens of deaths and injuries.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said at least 10,000 people have been displaced as a result of the hostilities.

Читать далее ...

West Curtailing Missile Defense Cooperation With Russia – Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – The decision by organizers to reject Moscow’s application to attend next month’s international conference on missile defense signals that the West is suspending talks with Russia on this issue, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

“We point that this step fits in the general trend aiming at folding dialogue with Russia on missile defense issues, and that is recently carried out by the United States and its NATO allies. The discussion of this matter through military and political channels is actually blocked by them and now, it seems that the time to fold the contacts [established] through industry and expert circles has come,” Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The organizers of the International Conference on Missile Defense, Challenges in Europe, due to be held in Germany’s Mainz on June 17-20, said the move came amid new difficulties hampering the creation of the proper conditions to receive Russian guests.

This “ostrich-like,” head-in-the-sand approach causes concerns as the unlimited deployment of the US-NATO missile defense elements is continuing in Europe. “This may violate the strategic balance and undermine international stability,” the ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry reiterated that Moscow has been asking its foreign partners to improve joint cooperation to counteract possible missile challenges and threats.

“These proposals still remain in force, however they can hardly be fulfilled when one of the parties in fact is absolutely refusing to hold talks. This situation only supports our conclusions on the true goal of the anti-missile potential, being created by the United States and its allies,” the statement said.

The US missile defense system in Europe has become a particular source of friction in US-Russian relations.

Last week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia would be forced to react "if there is really another look at the European phasing of an adaptive approach to the creation of a missile defense system speeding up to the phase where it’s time to place metal to the cement."

Читать далее ...

Ukraine Right Sector Radicals Nabbed in Crimea After Plotting Terrorist Attacks

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a group of Ukrainian radicals from the far-right Right Sector movement implicated in attempted terrorist attacks in Crimea’s Simferopol, Yalta and Sevastopol, the agency said Friday.

“The investigation department of Russia’s FSB has opened a criminal probe against [members of Right Sector] … who have prepared as part of a terrorist organization for the perpetration of a terrorist attack and explosions on the night of May 8 … in Simferopol [in Crimea],” the FSB press office said.

Searches of the homes of the detained extremists' accomplices yielded explosives, firearms, ammunition, and gas masks, according to the Vzglyad newspaper. The FSB said the four admitted the plot was aimed at destabilizing the political situation on the peninsula ahead of the independence referendum.

Crimea, previously an autonomous republic within Ukraine, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the coup-imposed government in Kiev that came to power following the February overthrow of President Yanukovych and voted to secede. On March 16, Crimea held a referendum which saw over 96 percent of voters in the region back the motion to leave Ukraine for Russia.

In March, an unknown sniper opened fire at people in Crimea’s capital Simferopol in an incident that republic’s Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said was aimed at fanning fear in the region.

Читать далее ...

Hail Storm Caused Flooding in Smolensk Russia

Copyright © 2013 English

Russia All the materials on this

site are submitted by the read-

ers trough feedback form or

acqulred thru the open sources

like, but not limited to

blogs.2leep.com, flickr.com etc.

Powered by WordPress

Читать далее ...

Planting Mines Directly from Helicopters

Another Russian blogger has posted a few photos with captions on how the mines being planted with the help of… helicopters. So let’s see what he got here. According to his story this system is being used for planting land mines with the help of MI-8 Russian copters.

---

---

There are two types of such systems he reviewed. One is when the mines are being set on the outer “wings” of the copter.

Mines go in cartridges and placed on both sides of the helicopter, total of there can be 116 cartridges.

Those 116 cartridges can carry up to 7424 mines! Depending on the size of the mines being used.

Mines are being loaded…

It should take around forty minutes to load all the mines.

Mines are loaded and the helicopter is ready for a launch.

Going to the field needed to be mined.

Mines then being shot from the cartridges, outer cartridges first, then inner ones.

Читать далее ...

Russia Ranks First Among World’s Sports Nations

MOSCOW, 29 May (RIA Novosti) – Russia has ranked first among the world’s greatest sports countries, Aleksander Zhukov, the head of Russian Olympic Committee told journalists Thursday.

"Russia’s influence as a sports nation on the international arena has grown immensely. Russia came out on top of the international ratings based not only on the results of performances, but also on the level of competitions organization and many other factors. I think this is the achievement of Russian Olympic Committee as well,” Zhukov said at a press conference in Moscow.

Zhukov was re-elected as President of Russian Olympic Committee during the Committee’s meeting on Thursday.

At the meeting’s opening, he welcomed representatives of Crimea and Sevastopol back to the Olympic family.

Some 244 delegates entitled to elect the leadership approved the new edition of the charter of the Russian Olympic Committee at the meeting. The charter’s new edition presupposes an open voting procedure.

The results of the Olympic Committee’s work and plans for the sports development in Russia were discussed during the meeting.

Читать далее ...

Abkhazia Opposition Calls for New Treaty With Russia

SUKHUMI, May 29 (RIA Novosti) – The united opposition of Abkhazia has called for a new partnership treaty with Russia that could take the bilateral strategic partnership “to a completely new level,” the opposition Coordination Council said Thursday in a statement.

“We want to underline that regardless of the internal political processes in the republic, strategic partnership between our two countries has no alternatives and it will be developing in a spirit of brotherhood, mutual assistance and respect of sovereignty and independence of Abkhazia,” it said.

Abkhazia has been oriented towards Russia who it sees as the only defender of its rights and national interests, the statement said.

A mass protest in Abkhazia's capital, Sukhumi, has been continuing for several days. The protesters seized government buildings, demanding President Aleksandr Ankvab step down.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that Moscow is concerned by the political tensions in Abkhazia and believes the crisis should be resolved through legal means.

Abkhazia broke away from Georgia following an ethnically tinged war in 1992-1993, just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. More than a decade later, in 2008, Russia formally recognized the province as an independent state after a brief war with Tbilisi over another disputed Georgian region, South Ossetia. Many Abkhaz citizens hold Russian passports.

Читать далее ...