Month: September 2022

Russia: limited nuclear conflict catastrophe

Blog, International, Politics

Brussels 29.09.2022 Assumptions about the possibility of a limited nuclear conflict are erroneous as any use of nuclear weapons is fraught with global catastrophe, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antono wrote in an article published on the website of the US’ National Interest magazine.

“I would like to warn American military planners about the fallacy of their assumptions that a limited nuclear conflict is possible. They apparently hope that the United States would be able to take cover behind the ocean if such a conflict happens in Europe with British and French nuclear weapons. I would stress that this is an extremely dangerous “experiment.” It is safe to assume that any use of nuclear weapons could quickly lead to an escalation of a local or regional conflict into a global one,” he emphasized.

“I want to believe that, despite all the difficulties, we and the Americans have not yet approached a dangerous threshold of falling into the abyss of nuclear conflict. It is important to stop threatening us,” he noted. “Today, it is difficult to predict how far Washington is ready to go in exacerbating relations with Russia. Will the U.S. ruling circles be able to give up their plans aimed at wearing out our country with the prospect of its dismemberment?”

“The recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and the high-level week of the 77th UN General Assembly session have proved that a considerable part of the planet is not satisfied with the world order that was created after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“We are witnessing the majority of the global community trying to find ways to establish an equitable system of international relations which would have neither first-nor second-tier states. We firmly support such a world order based on international law, the UN Charter, and the principle of the indivisibility of security,” Antonov added

Kaliningrad: military combat training

Blog, Europe

Brussels 28.09.2022 Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday, September 28, that newly mobilised reservists in the Kaliningrad region have started combat training at the base of Russia’s Baltic Fleet.

“All mobilised military personnel comply with the standards for shooting from small arms. In addition, citizens called up from the reserve restore their skills in the operation and maintenance of weapons, military and special equipment,” the ministry said on its Telegram channel.

Courses have been also held to increase firing skills and prepare military personnel for “confident actions on the battlefield”.

President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s first military mobilisation since World War Two last week, which could see hundreds of thousands more people sent to fight in Ukraine.

Russia has a significant military presence in Kaliningrad, a Russian Baltic coast enclave located between NATO and European Union members Poland and Lithuania, including nuclear-capable missiles, its Baltic fleet and tens of thousands of soldiers.

Izyum: Russian troops in retreat

Blog, Conflict

Brussels 10.09.2022 The Russian troops stationed at Balakleya and Izyum have been regrouped and redeployed to the Donetsk direction in order to step up efforts there, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Saturday, September 10.

“In order to achieve the declared goals of the special military operation for the liberation of Donbass, it was decided to regroup the Russian forces stationed near Balakleya and Izyum to boost efforts in the Donetsk direction,” Konashenkov said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, for that purpose, an operation of reorganizing and redeploying the Izyum-Balakleya grouping to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has been carried out in the past three days. Simultaneously, distractive and demonstration activates indicating troops’ real actions were taken.
“A powerful fire attack, with the air force, missile and artillery troops engaged, was conducted against the enemy to prevent harm to Russian troops,” the general added.

On Friday, September 9, the Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing Russian troops’ redeployment to the Kharkov direction. Footage features a military convoy consisting of BTR-82A armored personnel carriers and D-20 towed gun-howitzers. Besides the Z and V symbols, a new symbol – a circle inscribed in a triangle – painted on military vehicles can be seen in the video.

Anti-Russian sanctions “unnoticed”

Blog, Conflict, International

Brussels 09.09.2022 Western nations have imposed about 11,000 various restrictions on Russia, which went largely unnoticed by Russian citizens, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said on Friday, September 9.

“The West introduced record-breaking 11 000 sanctions against Russia. The Russian citizens have not noticed that so far,” the diplomat wrote on Twitter.

“For the first time in history the Western nations face the consequences of sanctions they introduce against another state,” he added.

The Ambassador tweeted: “The West introduced record-breaking 11,000 sanctions against Russia. The Russian citizens have not noticed that so far.”

In another tweet, Ulyanov underscored that the Western nations for the first time face the “consequences” of sanctions that they imposed against another nation. He further said, “Of course, the sanctions bite. The question is who they bite more. We will see.”

EU nations, US and UK have launched sanctions against Russia to apply pressure to the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine, and accept the will of the Ukrainian leadership to join NATO. So far, European Union has imposed several packages of sanctions against Russia, including trade restrictions, asset freezes and travel bans. As part of the economic sanctions, the EU has imposed import and export restrictions on Russia which implies that European entities cannot export certain products to Russia and vice versa.