Posts Tagged ‘Black Sea’
Posted on February 14, 2011 - by Venik
Putin’s Palace
Ahead of the presidential election in Russia, the opposition is pooling resources for an early smear campaign. The usual targets are other opposition leaders, the Communists, and the Kremlin. But the all-time favorite is, of course, Vladimir Putin. Will he run for president? Nobody knows. Gorbachev doesn’t think Putin will run. Nemtsov is certain that [...]
Posted on February 18, 2010 - by Venik
Mistral for Russia
France’s decision to sell four Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia was met with heavy criticism in the US, Georgia and the Baltic States. Interestingly enough, Russia’s decision to buy the four vessels for more than $2 billion was met with a lot of criticism within Russia as well. This is really the first time in [...]
Posted on October 1, 2009 - by Venik
War in Georgia: Reviewing EU Findings
As some of you may have heard, the international fact-finding mission (IIFFMCG) organized by the EU to investigate the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia has finally released its final report. As was expected, most of the blame for starting the war went to Georgia. Russia’s “fault”, according to the investigators, for the most part [...]
Posted on January 29, 2009 - by Venik
Russia to reopen airbase in Abkhazia
According to reports in the Russian media, the Bomborski airbase in Abkhazia is soon to be reopened for use by the Russian Air Force. The plan calls for two squadrons of Su-27 fighter-bombers and Su-25 ground attack aircraft, plus some additional An-26 or An-72 transports to be permanently based in Abkhazia. The Bomborski airbase is [...]
Posted on October 3, 2008 - by Venik
Pirates, Tanks and Conspiracy Theories
An Israeli-owned cargo ship, sailing under Belize flag with Russian and Ukrainian crew, carrying to Kenya Soviet-made main battle tanks for the army of Sudan is being boarded by Somalian pirates; the ship is surrounded by US Navy cruiser and destroyer, as well as by two Royal Navy frigates, as the Russian Navy dispatches its [...]
Posted on August 23, 2008 - by Venik
Old Dogs, Old Tricks.
Just finished reading “How to Deter Russia”, by William Courtney and Kenneth Yalowitz (The Washington Post, August 23, 2008, p. A15). Courtney is the former US Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia. Yalowitz is the former US Ambassador to Belarus and Georgia. It is absolutely astonishing how two diplomats with so much relevant experience can misinterpret [...]
Posted on August 17, 2008 - by Venik
Russia’s War Booty
Strength and composition of the Georgian army are a big mystery. I checked over a dozen of authoritative sources and no two report the same numbers. Jane’s published a detailed list of major weapons acquisitions by Georgia since 2000. However, in the past few days the Russian military captured weapons not previously known to be [...]
Posted on August 14, 2008 - by Venik
Russians in Georgia: Goals and Consequences
The Christian Science Monitor – of all newspapers – published perhaps the most relevant and concise description of what Moscow has achieved so far with its blitzkrieg response to Georgia’s sneak-attack on South Ossetia. “If the Russians stop hostilities now, they will have redrawn the whole strategic situation in the Caucasus, to the detriment of [...]
Posted on August 10, 2008 - by Venik
War in Georgia: What’s Coming
The EU wants to blame Russia for the escalating conflict in Georgia, but Brussels cannot ignore the terrible casualties inflicted by Georgian artillery on the civilian population of South Ossetia. Today’s visit to Tbilisi by France’s foreign minister suggests that Saakashvili is being pressured by the EU to back down. The US, on the other [...]
Posted on August 9, 2008 - by Venik
Georgia on a Path to Self-Destruction
I lived in Tbilisi for about a year when I was in sixth grade. Some of my best childhood memories are from that time now more than twenty years ago. My father’s family moved to Tbilisi in 1941, when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. My father was three years old then. He spent his [...]
