Category: Russia

This is interesting…

Russia has introduced restrictions on the movement of heavy trucks on highways in summertime. At temperatures above 32 degrees centigrade (89.6 F), trucks are allowed to run on highways from 9 pm to 9 am. The restrictions were imposed in order to preserve highways in good condition and will be in force until August 15th…

Sveta and I saw a lot of this type of damage on the byways going to our village. In fact one area was so bad that we almost could not transverse it. The big dump trucks and delivery trucks to a building supply depot had rutted the road so bad that cars were bottoming out on the crown in the middle of the lane…

It was all caused by the excess heat last year. I guess that they build roads different in America, because it is hotter than 32 degrees centigrade most anywhere for months. But when a summer day is 15 degrees centigrade like it is today here in Moscow. Then you look at and do things differently…

The damage had been repaired the last time that we traveled to the village but I could see how they want to keep from constantly repairing these roads…

Windows to Russia!

Earlier this year the USA inquired to Russia about turn-coating on Iran over the and all nuclear deals. Russia was watching and waiting to see about several actions that the USA would take and do on missile defense and other important issues…

Well in the last few days a little rhetoric has come out from the Kremlin group and yesterday the Russian president’s special envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has rejected the United States’ claim that the Islamic Republic of Iran poses a missile threat to Europe. In a television interview, the Kremlin ambassador to NATO described the claim as a provocative myth and stated that Moscow would never identify Iran as a missile threat…

Russia has seen that sincerity and trust are not in the Western vocabulary and I really think that the straw that broke the camels back is the Libya issue in the UN…

Medvedev stuck his neck out and accepted all responsibility for the decision. After the fiasco that the UN resolution turned out to be. You could hardly blame Medvedev for never trusting the West again. The problem is that Medvedev tried to trust the West after he had been burned several times before. That is where the people in Russia see Medvedev as being weak. Russians like a strong leader and if Medvedev trusts the West again it could become a serious issue for him…

So far over the Syria issue in the UN. Medvedev is holding to what is correct and standing up for what is right. If he had done that with Libya…

Sincerity and trust is very important in this world and the West is short of supply on both. But the West has never valued sincerity as the East does…

Windows to Russia!

This time of the year is strange. That was the thinking’s with my morning cup of coffee. You see, the Russians living in Moscow simply disappear. The children that overwhelmed the playgrounds have all vanished. Oh there is an occasional lost straggler, but for the most part the Muscovites are gone, or at least the non working part of the family is gone…

The main highway (Mkad) around Moscow is half empty now and a pleasure to drive. The stores are easy to get into and go shopping. Everything is like you have stepped into a twilight zone and half the population disappeared over night. I have been here 5 years and this strange occurrence happens like clockwork ever year…

Once the schools are out for the summer, then dacha / village season starts. The places where all good Russians take their kids and let them spend lots of time enjoying the country air and play in the rivers and gardens…

I exaggerate when I say everyone is gone but that is what it feels like. When millions upon millions of people leave Moscow to the countryside, it is noticeable. When you are use to seeing up to 20 million people at times jammed into one city. Then summers become a pleasure in Moscow, because so many people leave for the summers…

So while there still is 10 to 15 million people still in Moscow. That is a whole lot better than 15 to 20 million that normally pack the city like sardines…

So what is and are dachas? Have a read on a past article: Russia and Her Dacha Craze…

So that cup of coffee is even better when you can drive the streets of Moscow and get somewhere in minutes instead of hours…

Windows to Russia!

Here in Russia the farther North that you get the less likely the sun wants to go away for the night. Now we in Moscow get a night but I can go to the top of our buildings and you can see light in the distance of a sun that never wants to go away. Picture below is at 2:30am…

Ok – I realize that it is dark, but someone like me who grew up in the Midwest in the USA, this is not dark. There is enough light to buck hay all night and not need any head lights on the tractors or trucks.

Strange feeling for this country boy from America, what we need to do is go up North even farther. They say the sun never sets…

Windows to Russia!

Russia and France have signed a contract on the acquisition of Mistral helicopter-carriers by Moscow from Paris. The Moscow-based daily Kommersant quotes an unidentified source as saying that the two sides signed the contract in Paris on the 10th of this month.

Читать далее

Source: Voice of Russia.

Looks like they finally signed a contract and the ships will be built… (Maybe)

Windows to Russia!

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the current President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), who headed the southern Republic of Kalmykia for almost two decades before resigning in 2010, visited the Libyan capital and met with Gaddafi at his invitation. The two men played chess for two-and-a-half hours.

Speaking on Tuesday, Ilyumzhinov said that the Libyan leader is ready to negotiate with NATO and the rebel government in Benghazi without any conditions. He added that the Libyan leader said he will not leave the country, where he plans to die and where his children and grandchildren are buried.

Earlier the former Russian governor said Gaddafi remains calm and focused despite the pressure he has to endure.

“He acts absolutely normally. He met me, took me to the second floor. We didn’t talk politics – it was just an gentle humane meeting. I told him I regretted the loss of his son and three grandchildren in the bombing,” Ilyumzhinov said on Monday.

On Tuesday the ex-governor revealed that Gaddafi had dodged the NATO bombing raid which killed his family members by a mere six minutes.

“He left at 8:05pm, and at 8:11, several bombs hit the building. The air strike and the killing of his relatives happened as he watched,” Ilyumzhinov said.

“Gaddafi believes that if he is killed or NATO launches a ground operation in Libya, it would result in a long civil war and a split of Libya into western and eastern parts,” he said.

Gaddafi says NATO is attacking his country to rob the $160 billion of national reserves which were kept at accounts in Western banks and which have been frozen.

“For some reason they [Western media] call it Gaddafi’s money. It is not. It’s the central national bank’s money, the Libyan people’s money,” Ilyumzhinov cited the Libyan leader as saying.
­Rebels’ successes misreported

­Ilyumzhinov shared his impression of Libya, which he traveled through by a car.

“The deputy chair of the Libyan chess federation, who met me, laughed at one moment. I asked him what the joke was. He asked whether I noticed anything unusual and I said no. He said [Western] media reported that at this very spot fighting happened, that it had been taken over by rebels,” he said.

Tripoli itself has been damaged by NATO bombings, according to Ilyumzhinov.

“Drones fly over the city all the time and bomb it. NATO wanted to bomb the parliament building and the bombs hit a hospital nearby. There are a lot of such objects there. They wanted to bomb a TV tower and leveled half of the block,” he said.

Ilyumzhinov visited Tripoli in the capacity of head of FIDE. However presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko said Medvedev’s administration had been informed about details of the visit.

“As far as we know, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov voiced Russia’s official position on the events in Libya during his talk with Muamar Gaddafi,” the official said.

Mikhail Margelov, who is the Kremlin’s official envoy to Libya, is to visit Tripoli this week. Earlier he visited Benghazi and talked to the rebel leaders as part of Russia’s effort to stop the ongoing violence and bring the conflicting parties to negotiation table.

Libya has been torn by a civil war since mid-February. A NATO-led coalition is supporting rebels against forces loyal to Gaddafi. Several high-ranking officials at NATO members stated that their goal is to have Gaddafi out of power.

Source: http://rt.com/news/gaddafi-ready-chess-official/

Windows to Russia!

Download the podcast!

June 12 is the national day of the Russian Federation – the Day of Russia. It has been celebrated every year since 1994. The First Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation adopted the Declaration on Russia’s National Sovereignty on June 12, 1990.

The declaration views sovereignty as a natural and indispensable condition of the Russian state, with its centuries-long history, culture and traditions. The adoption of the declaration paved the way for the development of Russian statehood based on the principles of constitutional federalism, equality and partnership.

The idea of the declaration was born in the Democratic Russia movement, in which proponents of evolutionary market reform and strong statehood based on Russia’s national interests started opposing the Communist monopoly on power. In addition, by the late 1980s, society had begun to doubt the Politburo’s ability to carry out meaningful socioeconomic reforms.

The creation of the post of the President of the Russian Federation and the adoption of the new Russian Constitution reflecting the new political reality, along with the national flag, anthem and emblem of the Russian Federation, were major landmarks in the consolidation of Russian statehood. The country’s new name – the Russian Federation (Russia) – was adopted on December 25, 1991. The day when the declaration was adopted – June 12 – was proclaimed Russia’s national holiday by the Russian President’s decree of June 2, 1994. Under the presidential decree of June 16, 1998, it was called the Day of Russia. In 2002, the new Labor Code gave official seal to this title.

Also on June 12, 1991, the first Russian president was chosen in nationwide free elections by secret ballot. A total of 106,484,518 people were on the voting lists on Election Day, and 79,498,240 of them, or 74.66%, took part in the voting. Boris Yeltsin won with 57.3% of all votes. Nikolai Ryzhkov received 16.85%, Vladimir Zhirinovsky 7.81%, Aman Tuleyev 6.81%, Albert Makashov 3.74%, Vadim Bakatin 3.42%, and none-of-the-above 1.92%.

At the first Congress of People’s Deputies on May 29, 1990, Yeltsin was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation with the support of the Democratic Russia bloc. He occupied this position until June 1991. At the 28th Communist Party Congress on July 12, 1990, Yeltsin left the Communist Party. As president, Yeltsin also chaired the Constitutional Commission of the Russian Federation, the Extraordinary Food Commission and the Supreme Consultative and Coordinating Council. From November 1991 to May 1993 he headed the Russian Government. On July 3, 1996, he was re-elected for a second term. Source: http://en.rian.ru/symbols/20070608/66883669.html

Windows to Russia!

Remember when Ukraine was stealing gas? Remember when Ukraine refused to deliver gas to Europe? Remember when Ukraine would not pay their gas bills? Remember when Ukraine… (You get my point!)

Well Ukraine seems to have come to the realization that South Stream is a true reality and that it will cut Ukraine’s throat in the Gas supplier business. They should have thought about that before they played games in the past. We have a saying, “The past will rear up and bite you on the butt…”

KIEV, June 11 (Itar-Tass) —— Ukraine hopes to persuade Russia to invest in the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transport system, and not in the South Stream pipeline project. As Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said on the first national television channel on Friday, “there is nothing more reliable for Russian gas supplies to Europe than our pipeline system.”

Now that last statement will make you laugh. After the years of unreliability they can say that statement with a straight face?

I realize that Ukraine had a pathetic president (Viktor Yushchenko) at one time in the past and a prime minister (Yulia Tymoshenko) that stole all the gas and money in the country, but when you have proven yourself to be extremely unreliable as a gas delivery country. Then no one trusts you…

It is hard for a business like Gazprom to accept Ukraine’s word that all is good when they lost billions of dollars in gas for years in a row…

Ukraine needs to understand that when the West instigated political games and had her puppets in place in Ukraine. That the results will always be detrimental to Ukraine’s future and present…

Russia has always wanted to trust Ukraine but…

Windows to Russia!

MOSCOW, June 11 (Itar-Tass) —— An American diplomat’s 17-year-old adopted daughter has disappeared in the Krasnogorsk district near Moscow, Moscow regional police department spokesman Yevgeny Gildeyev told Itar-Tass on Friday.

The girl went out in the cottage village of Rosinka near Krasnogorsk on June 9 and did not return. The parents reported it to police the next day.

More than 100 policemen are searching for the missing girl, the official said.

The girl, a Philippine native, more than once left the home before, he said.

Source: http://www.itar-tass.com/c32/162989.html

Windows to Russia!