Yup – There is Life After a Russian Winter and We Have a 13th Floor!


The last week as the snow has been thawing, I have been watching the ground for signs of life anew. The trees have not acknowledge Spring yet, so I figured my next best bet would be the forest floor…

Above – Looks really barren at this point and still snow.
Below – take a closer look at the floor under the trees. Eureka!

Below – Then I found what I was looking for New shoots with leaves… 🙂

Above – Funny how these plants (seeds) survive 30 below zero and act like nothing is wrong!
Below – Then Boza and I found the elevators broke in our building and we decided to walk to the 12th floor (We live on the 2nd floor.) and see what’s up…

The next building is starting to have the foundation layer poured and you can see the parking garage that costs 1,000,000 rubles per parking place, nestled between the buildings…

Above – Now the elevator will only go to the 12th floor and if you are on the 12th floor staircase you will discover that there is a 13th floor. They will not let me up there to see what is going on. Now this drives someone like me crazy and I already counted floors from the outside and saw that we have a secrete floor. If you look up the stairway you can see that it goes to a balcony and an open floor with no flats built. One day I will get up there to see what is so important that we have to live without a 13th floor.

That is it for today, after I kicked and pulled on the door of the 13th floor. I decided that maybe I should be good because they might just keep me behind those bars. 🙂

Windows to Russia!

Mondays Terror Bombings Really Only Illustrates Lack Of Abilities!



“Suicide bombers and the ones who train them, are not prone to desires of altering the policy of their opponent. They are only stimulated by the destruction of said opponent.” Kyle Keeton

Two thoughts on Monday’s Moscow Metro Bombings:
First: Medvedev and Putin have both expressed that a successful counter-terrorist strategy will not only destroy terrorists but ensure that other terrorists will have no incentive to replace them.
Hummmm…
I do not totally agree, because the terrorist has no incentive to live in the first place. They have only a mission to accomplish and that mission is a means to a different world and or life. That is why he/she does, what he/she does. More death actually stimulates the desire of the terrorists end results. A terrorist has tremendous patience and an act of terrorism could take 10 years or more before being executed to avenge past incites…
Instead of over reacting to what has happened, the authorities (Kremlin) need to think outside of the box. That thinking needs to include expertise of technique and or skills from outside the country and include the judgement of people from the localized areas. Then instead of the Kremlin acting as a pillar of power that crushes all in its way. It needs to spread its power over a wider path that encompasses the sharing of information between those who have it and those who need it.
Second: Lets look at the terrorist group that enacted these bombings:
“For lack of a better way to express it: The abilities of a terrorist does not lay within the confinement of the terrorized but within the trainings compounds so its people perform their job efficiently and without question.” Kyle Keeton

Other words even though 40 people died and scores were injured in two attacks. The efficiency of these attacks was amateurish and not well thought out. You have to look at what the terrorists wanted to accomplish and in that they failed…

These bombings were what I always have referred to as a quick emotional revenge bombing. The fact that they have started to pinpoint that the girls involved are wives of militants and now it is said that one of the Metro bombers could be 17-year-old Djennet Abdurakhmanova, a widow of Umalat Magomedov – the leader of radical Islamists in the South Russian Republic of Dagestan, who was killed in December last year by the FSB. The other bomber could be 20-year-old Markha Ustarkhanova, also a widow of a militant from Dagestan.
Hummm…

I witnessed an attack many years ago from about a 100 meters. A little boy standing in the open in a crowd of people, maximized his attack by holding his explosive device above his head! The resulting explosion was much more devastating (he killed 20 but injured 400 to 500) than a full grown woman who stood in a metro car, with the metro car absorbing literally 100% of the blast. Same amount of plastic was used by the boy. He was a pro, trained by the pros and it made an impression that every kid with a sack in his hands is a issue. Many men from war will tell you (Or really not want to tell you) of the child that had to be shot because he was carrying something suspicious…

Myself, I am glad that the terrorists were ill trained. Because with the lack of observant security (I did not say lack of security!) and masses of multiples of thousands of people in a small confined area that is present in the Metro. It could have been 1000 dead instead of 39! Or more effective a 1000 injured, because the memories of the injured are not allowed to go away with time, like the memories of the dead…
Something to think about.
Windows to Russia!
PS: The bombing in Dagestan showed a much more to skill and expertise. If the two women had performed the same way in Moscow the death toll would have been much higher:

Twin blasts rocked Russia’s North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Wednesday, killing at least 12 people, just two days after two metro suicide bombings in Moscow.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a government session on Wednesday he did not rule out that a single terrorist group may be behind the bombings. President Dmitry Medvedev also said there may be a link.

Wednesday’s attacks took place in the town of Kizlyar, near Dagestan’s border with Chechnya, and also left 29 people injured.

The first blast went off at 08:45 Moscow time (04:45 GMT), when a car bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber some 300 meters from the buildings of the Interior Ministry, Federal Security Service and a school. It had a force of up to 200 kg of TNT. (This was a primer bomb to draw the victims together! – Kyle)

Two police officers were killed in the explosion, which also injured several bystanders.

The second explosion came 20 minutes later when a suicide bomber dressed in a police officer’s uniform blew himself up as a crowd gathered. (This was the real bomb to kill the police – Kyle)

The suicide bomber, who had the equivalent of 1.5 kg of TNT strapped to his body, has been identified as Daud Jabrailov, a citizen of Kizlyar, Dagestan’s Interior Ministry said.

“Around 20 minutes later a suicide bomber, dressed in a police officer’s uniform, arrived at the scene where an investigation group was working, and activated an explosive device he had on his body,” the statement added.

A total of nine policemen were killed in the blasts, including the city’s police chief, Vitaly Vedernikov.

These bombers were pros and worked as a team…

Moscow Metro Bombing Survival Story!



Sim Eih-Xing from Malaysia was in the 5th carriage of the train that stopped at the Park Kultury metro station on Monday morning. As usual, the medical student was on his way to university at that time…

Good Video!
Windows to Russia!

Blame Russia First!


I like Peter Lavelle and 75% of the time agree with his thoughts…

Well Peter has a good article that he just printed-
Blame Russia First | Untimely Thoughts: “This week’s twin suicide bombings on Moscow’s busy metro system shocked all of Russia. Is this a return to the bad old days of the 1990s and early 2000s, which witnessed one terrorist attack after another? Has the Kremlin miscalculated in its own domestic “war on terror” against regional separatists?

Some in Western media appear almost gleeful that the March 29 metro attack occurred. It is as if Russia deserved to be punished for its domestic anti-terror policies initiated by former-President Vladimir Putin, and carried on by his successor Dmitri Medvedev.”
Read More >>>

Moscow metro suicide bomber identified!


Moscow metro suicide bomber identified: “The female suicide bomber who set off a bomb at Park Kultury metro station on March 29 has been identified, a source of the Russian security service in the North Caucasus Federal District said.

On Monday, March 29 twin blasts at the Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations occurred during the morning rush hour, leaving at least 39 people dead and dozens injured.
‘At the moment only the suicide bomber who set off a bomb at the Park Kultury metro station has been identified. She is a resident of Dagestan’, the source said, adding that, in the interests of the investigation, her name could not be revealed.
Dagestan is an impoverished region of Russia’s volatile North Caucasus.”

Windows to Russia!

Medvedev On the Latest Terror Attacks and Military Reform!



A helicopter with Dmitry Medvedev on board landed at the central square of Makhachkala, Dagestan in front of the Government headquarters. The head of the Russian state arrived to hold a meeting with the heads of regions of the North Caucasus federal district. The meeting was also attended by presidential envoy in SKFO, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev and head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov. The head of the FSB Bortnikov said that the bomber is already known and that acts are underway to eradicate.

Medvedev said in the meeting that there are five areas of combating terrorism in the North Caucasus:
First – strengthen law enforcement.
Second – “It is necessary to cause sharp dagger blows to the terrorists, to destroy them and their shelters.
Third – Help and protect those who decided to break with the militias.
Fourth – Economic development, education and culture in the region is very important.
Fifth – In addition, Medvedev mentioned the strengthening of moral and spiritual components. “We have more, we are stronger, for us the fate of people, and most importantly – for us the truth,” – said the president.
Medvedev went on to say, “In the Caucasus there is a specificity, and therefore the decisions to be made in the Caucasus, should be treated with special care not to alienate people who are risking their lives,”

He also said, that the reform of the Interior Ministry “should get stronger professional ministry, with other professional staff, other money, the other outfit. “

Then the Military reform in general was discussed. The reforms include:

– Transfer of the military structure with chetyrehzvennoy management system (Military District – Army – Division – Regiment) on a three-tier (district – Operational Command – Brigade);

– Reorganization of the central military command, including the Defense Ministry and General Staff;

– Reduction of the officers, the elimination of the institution of ensigns and warrant officers;

– Creation of a rapid reaction group.

In addition, the reform will to dismantled several military units and institutions. By 2012, the armed forces will be reduced from 1.13 million to 1 million troops, the central office of the Defense Ministry – two and a half times – up to 8 , 5 thousand, and the number of officer positions in the Army and Navy – from the current 355 thousand to 150 thousand.

With regards to the terrorist attacks in Moscow and Dagestan, FSB director Alexander Bortnikov said that the version of the commission of their gangs associated with the North Caucasus, was confirmed. “Personally known to the organizers of recent terrorist attacks, carried out investigative activity, – said Bortnikov. – Obtain certain materials, a number of detained persons are being interrogated, obtained evidence, examination is being conducted…

Windows to Russia!

Doku Umarov Now Claims The Moscow Metro Bombings!



Doku (Dokka) Khamatovich Umarov (Chechen: Iумар КIант Доккa; Russian: Доку Хаматович Умаров; he also uses the Arabized name of “Dokka Abu Usman”) (born April 13, 1964) is the leading Islamist rebel leader in Russia.

Umarov is the former underground President of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI) between 2006 and 2007 and currently the self-proclaimed Emir of the Russian North Caucasus (as the virtual and unrecognized Islamic state of Caucasus Emirate) since 2007. He is currently wanted in Russia for the alleged crimes of terrorism, kidnapping, murder and treason.

On March 31, 2010 Umarov claimed responsibility for personally ordering the Moscow Metro bombings which took the lives of 39 civilians and injured over 60 more.

Doku Umarov appeared in a released video that they say was recorded March 29 – immediately after the attacks.

What he said (in a nutshell) is that the explosions in the Moscow subway on March 29 were carried out by his personal orders and done to avenge what the special operation forces of the FSB did on February 11, 2010 in the villages of Arshty and Datyh Sunzha district of Ingushetia. At that time frame according to official records, the FSB killed 18 militants, injured five civilians, four of whom died later. The Russian military at that time had said that the gunmen used civilians as “human shields”.

Also according to Umarov, terrorist attacks on Russian territory will continue “Because peaceful Russians, who see the war only on television, need to feel what war is….”

Windows to Russia!
PS: A little know fact is that his first response was that he did not do the attacks but it seems now that he is claiming these attacks. The Russian government can not verify that this is really him and if you look at other pictures of him you may find some doubt.

TV is Not a News Source Anymore and People Need To Get Use to it!


TV is not a news source anymore and people need to get use to it. TV is a placatory instrument for the masses! This is a true statement whether you live in America, Russia or China. Also the major newspaper organizations are not news worthy anymore either.
TV is used one of two ways. Either to over-inform or under-inform! Russian TV under-informed on the Metro Bombings where as normal TV in America almost always over-informs on big news items. The effect is the same either way because too much of something obscures the facts just like too little of something obscures the facts. (The past 9-11 terrorist attack in America is a perfect example of super overkill on reporting and the recent fact that New York had cops with Machine Guns guarding the New York metro after the Moscow Metro was hit, was plastered all over the world in news!)
The internet is the future of news!

Russia Today which is an mainly an internet based news source hit the jackpot, one of their newscasters that was on her way home from work was almost in the middle of the first explosion. She was on the air being broadcast all over the world as she told her story about what happened. She made it back to the station at about 8:20am and was on the air at 8:26am! This young lady was lucky or unlucky enough (however you look at it) to have been near the situation and be able to give a first hand report. I know I watched her and she was shook up and almost crying…. This gave huge credibility to RT on what was happening.

Channel 1 at around 8:30am gave information on what happened. After that report Channel 1 had no information to go by. Channel 1 is a typical TV station. Nuff said…
My first post was at 8:36am and from that point I posted a lot of articles and still am posting articles about the Metro bombings. I have without any problems kept a handle on what is happening in Russia and the bombings. I have chosen to print some things and chosen to not print other things. I am not a news agency but I have an interest in what is correct and right. To print something that is incorrect just to print, would be stupid!
If you follow this blog, you would not have lacked in knowledge about what was happening with the Moscow bombings. In fact Svetlana has taken very good pictures and a video that have been published in several of our blogs.
The internet is the future of information. This information may not be correct all the time but it is the future. The newspaper and TV are a dying entity.
So why am I rehashing this information? Because the Western press has their head up their ass as usual and all they can do is print articles about how Russian TV let the Russian people down and that war will come to the streets of Moscow! Seems that major press goes hand in hand with lies, lack of knowledge and sensationalism…
I have read all the articles and everyone of them is a huge twist of the facts. It takes a bit of truth and alters the words into a card game, played with a hand of bull…
I want to know where all these Moscow reporters, that write for all the Western news were, when all the bombs were going off? You would be surprised at how many of your favorite news sources in America and Europe have offices in Moscow. These offices put news out in both Russian and English language were very quiet the day of the terrorist bombings. Now I see articles days later, from all the so called big names, writing from Moscow. They all talk with authority and give editorials on what Russia should have done and what Russia did wrong. But we did not see and hear from any of those idiots until everything was over with. They were no more censored then than they are now. Seems they have plenty of jaw flapping going on now…
Grandpa had a saying, “A womans hind end gives you a view of what you missed!”
Windows to Russia!
PS: The point is that Russia did what she thought was best and I agree with her! There was no panic at all.

The Therapy for Moscow Russia!


Svet shot this video that goes along with the pictures that she took at this post! (Link)

I took what she shot with her camera and removed the static background sound. Added a beautiful piece of music called Serenity Funeral! It came out pretty good for a bumbling bear like me…
Good to watch and absorb facts that people die everyday because of senseless acts of violence…
I hope you like it!
Windows to Russia
Svet and Kyle