Windows to Russia

Opening Remarks at Special Meeting Following Terrorist Attacks in the Moscow Metro:

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Two terrorist attacks were committed in the Moscow metro this morning. Let us first of all honour the victims’ memory with a minute of silence.

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Preventing these kinds of terrorist attacks and ensuring security in the transport system are very difficult tasks, as recent experience shows. We need to intensify substantially our efforts in this area and address this problem in comprehensive fashion on the national scale. It is not enough to focus on just one type of transport or just one specific location. We need to address this problem at the national level. The measures taken to date are clearly insufficient.

As for the concrete steps to take right now, we need, of course, to help the people affected, first of all, provide help and support to the families of those killed and help all the victims, help those now in hospitals. They must get all necessary aid from the Moscow authorities and from the federal government.

I have instructed the Government to hold a meeting today to discuss all of these issues in detail. I ask the Government to carry this out.

Regarding the situation in general, we need to remain vigilant. The sad truth is that these kinds of attacks are clearly always well-planned, calculated to cause as many victims as possible, and aimed at destabilising our country and society. The Interior Ministry and the security services must therefore work to raise public awareness and keep tight control on the situation. Of course, they must respect citizens’ rights, but keep things under tight control, intervening and responding as necessary if circumstances call for it.

Such practice exists throughout the world and in Russia too. Sadly, this is not the first time we find ourselves facing this sort of event. We therefore need to have precise and prepared responses in this kind of situation.

The Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee must continue collecting evidence and conducting a thorough investigation, though without hampering traffic in the metro system, of course. Traffic must resume as soon as the investigations work has been completed, so as not to cause problems for the city.

All versions advanced so far need to be investigated as thoroughly as possible. This is very clearly a continuation of the terrorist activity we have already encountered, and the investigation will no doubt be based primarily on this version. Keep the investigation under your control and report to me on developments.

One final point I want to make is that we will continue our efforts to stamp out and combat terrorism in our country. We will continue our counterterrorist operations with unflinching resolve until we have defeated this scourge. I want all of you, the heads of our law enforcement and security agencies, to remember this and make it your guiding principle – we will act unflinchingly and not stop until terrorism is defeated.

We will hold another meeting soon on specific consequences of these attacks. Now we need to get on with our immediate duties, and so I propose that we all get back to our respective work.

Life in Moscow goes on but with a much more somber tone today than normal. The president of Russia Medvedev has made his speech about what happened. The news media is on top of things and the cops are on every street corner, in our town! I am told that we have a excess amount of cops because our town is a major railway station. They are correct it is, a 20 minute walk and you are at a big train station…

Two blasts in Moscow Metro, dozens killed

Published 29 March, 2010, 08:26

Two explosions have rocked the Moscow Metro this morning, claiming dozens of dead and injured.

The first explosion happened in a carriage at the central Lubyanka underground station and has claimed the lives of 26 people, with more injured, informs RIA Novosti news agency.

The second blast happened at the Park Kultury Metro station in the third carriage of a train. 15 or more people are reported to be dead, the quantity of injured is unknown.

According to Russia’s Emergency Ministry, the first explosion presumably happened in the second carriage of a Metro train stopped at the Lubyanka station in the very center of Moscow, only several hundred meters from the Kremlin. At 9:30am Moscow Time, the Emergencies Ministry gave the number of casualties as 20 killed and 11 wounded on Lubyanka station and 12 killed and 7 wounded at Park Kultury station.

Rescuers are working at both scenes.

The explosions happened during rush hour. Both Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations are very busy interchange stations, with many people there at any given time, particularly on Monday morning.

It is hard to make any assumptions right now but some reports say the explosions were carried out by suicide bombers.

Meanwhile, all train services have been suspended on the Moscow Metro system for the time being, with security services on high alert.

A criminal investigation into a terrorist act has been initiated.
“It has been a planned action”

Viktor Linnik, Editor-in-Chief of Slovo newspaper, told RT that “this is obviously a planned action.”

“Probably there have been leaks on terror acts being planned in Moscow because there have been very strong armed patrols in Moscow for the past five or six days,” he said.

“What has happened is a shock, but not a cause for panic. We have seen it before,” Linnik added.

Previous blasts in Moscow Metro:

January 8, 1977, the first terrorist attack in the Metro. An explosive device filled with metal pieces killed seven people and injured 37 between Izmaylovskaya and Pervomayskaya stations on the dark blue line in the North-East of Moscow, along with two other blasts in two grocery stores. The three culprits were caught and executed after trial.

April 20, 1989, two homemade explosive devices were found and neutralized on the circle line, one at Pavelyetskaya to the south and the other at Prospekt Mira to the north.

November 24, 1992, a minor blast occurred on the orange line at Prospekt Mira, when some teenagers threw a firecracker on to the platform. Nobody was harmed.

June 11, 1996, a homemade explosive device equivalent to 400-500 grams of TNT was detonated on the grey line between Tulskaya and Nagatinskaya in the south. 4 people died, and 16 were injured.

January 1, 1998, a homemade bomb exploded on the orange line at Tretyakovskaya, near the center of Moscow. Three people were injured and hospitalized.

February 6, 2001, a blast on the circle line did not kill or injure anybody, but was officially acknowledged at Belorusskaya station, on the circle line to the north-west.

February, 6, 2004 marked the biggest Moscow Metro blast so far, with about 40 casualties and hundreds injured on the green line. This was between Paveletskaya and Avtozavodskaya just to the south of the circle line.

Windows to Russia!
Russian Video!

MOSCOW, March 26 (Itar-Tass) — The new strategic arms reduction treaty will reduce nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States by approximately one-third, the Kremlin said in comment on the Friday telephone conversation of Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama.

The presidents agreed to sign the treaty in Prague on April 8.

“The new treaty will set the following maximum limits on nuclear forces of Russia and the United States:

1,550 deployed warheads for each side, which is approximately one-third smaller than the START level.

700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, deployed submarine-based ballistic missiles and deployed heavy bombers, which is twice lower than the START level.

800 deployed and non-deployed launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles, deployed and non-deployed launchers of submarine-based ballistic missiles, and deployed and non-deployed heavy bombers,” the Kremlin said.

Each side will have the right to choose a makeup and structure of its strategic offensive armaments, the Kremlin said.

Windows to Russia!

Ukraine recently has said their price is “unreasonably high for gas, at $305 per 1,000 cubic meter” pointing to Belarus, which only pays $168 per 1,000 cubic meter.

Putin gave an answer: Russia and Belarus “are building a Union State and a Customs Union, and that is why we do not take a 30% custom duty.” Putin also said, “Here is Ukraine’s interest about integration in the post-Soviet space. It is essential that our colleagues (Ukraine) assess and weigh everything up and understand what is necessary and what is not.”

Moscow has not put a barrier up that prevents Ukraine from joining the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Kiev is the one that has looked the other way when offered…

Is Putin suggesting where Kiev has messed up in the past?

Windows to Russia!

Hitler’s book banned as extremist:
Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle) has been recognized as extremist literature by a Russian court and will be banned in Russia, the Prosecutor General’s Office says.

Russia and IAEA to build first international nuclear reserve:
Russia and IAEA will create a first-of-its-kind international nuclear bank. Signing of the deal is scheduled on March 29 in Vienna. Atomic fuel will be available for countries willing to develop peaceful atomic energy.

Gas key issue as Ukraine, Russia look to restart relations:
Russia seems unlikely to significantly lower the price Ukraine has to pay for gas as the Ukrainian Prime Minister held talks with Gazprom and Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

“Putin cares more about what he is doing than about how and when”:
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s press attache, Dmitry Peskov, spoke with RT about the Premier’s attitude towards protocol, his team’s plans and Russia’s handling of the global economic crisis.

Olympic flags travel to next Winter Games venue, Sochi:
The Olympic and Paralympic flags have arrived from Vancouver to Russia’s southern city of Sochi, which is taking over the Olympic baton and preparing to host the winter games in 2014.

Russian officials may be involved in auto-giant bribe fiasco:
Russian government officials are accused of being involved in a multimillion-dollar bribery scandal with auto giant Daimler.

Russian military officers jailed for spying for Georgia:
Two Russian military officers and a Georgian citizen have been given lengthy prison sentences after being found guilty of spying for Georgia.

Russia plans to attract tourists to North Caucasus:
An ambitious $15-billion project to create a tourist industry in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus will be developed by June, a deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the region told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday.

Russia to ease immigration rules to draw in specialists, investment:
Russia is poised to ease immigration restrictions for highly-qualified foreign specialists in a bid to encourage the free flow of trade and investment in the country, a Russian business daily said on Friday.

Windows to Russia!

Last year or so – sometime? It seems, I remember Coke entering the Kvas market in Russia. I have bought the Coke Kvas and it is sorta good. But, it is very hard to find in most of the stores that and is much more expensive than the local brands.

<----- Coke Kvas! (The local Kvas is much better.) Well it seems that Pepsi is entering the market and I hope with that competition that Coke will lower their price. Pepsi said their Kvas is going to be priced: “Half-liter bottles will cost 30 rubles, liter bottles – 38 rubles, and two-liter – 54 rubles.” What I can tell you is that I pay 54 rubles a half liter for the Coke Kvas. That is way too much…

Pepsi Kvas —->

A short run down on Russian Kvas: “‘Kvass or kvas (literally “leaven”; borrowed in the 16th century from Russian квас (kvas)), sometimes translated into English as bread drink, is a fermented mildly alcoholic beverage made from black rye or rye bread (which attributes to its light or dark color). It is popular in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland and other Eastern and Central European countries as well as in all ex-Soviet states, like Uzbekistan, where one can see many kvass vendors in the streets. Its origins go back 5,000 years to the beginnings of beer production. (Kvas)’“

When I first came to Russia I was leery of Kvas, but I have a saying that holds true and is effective, “Do as the natives do!”

Kvas is good and my preferred drink when we are out traveling Russia. When you see that huge yellow tank on the side of the road, just pull over and get a delicious glass of Kvas…

Windows to Russia!

PS: They say those tanks are old petrol tanks?

The Nord Stream pipeline has the British company Bactec International disarming the mines along the pathway of the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic sea!

Seems the estimated number of mines believed to be buried under the Baltic Sea ranges from 100,000 to 150,000, with most of them located under the Gulf of Finland. Luckily only 80 mines have to be disarmed to put in the Nord Stream pipeline!

This is leftovers from World War 1 and 2 as I understand…

Windows to Russia!

Grigory Perelman who lives in St. Petersburg is a exceptional (that is an understatement) mathematician. He has won a prize, which is linked to the understanding of multidimensional shapes…

US-based Clay Mathematics Institute offered $1 million to anyone to solve one of its seven “Millennium Problems” of the last hundred years. Perelman is so far the only one to have done this feat! He has solved the “Poincaré Conjecture!“

The world press has extensively said that Perelman refused the prize money of $1,000,000. I have seen articles that all but called him… (We will ignore those articles)

Grigory Perelman is what we call a recluse and it is obvious that he does not think on the same level as we normal people do. So to speak for him without allowing him to absorb the facts first, was a disheartening slam to an individual that is seriously over our heads intellectually wise! He has never said that he does not want the money, but a British tabloid press has stated different. In fact he has only said, that he has not decided yet about the prize money!

After reading about the “Poincaré Conjecture”. I feel that Perelman should have the prize money delivered to him and he should not be expected to travel to the prize money. They (Clay Mathematics Institute) made the challenge and someone was capable of doing the impossible.

Grigory Perelman is an incredible individual that deserves much respect for what he has done.