At a time when the Russian economy has been seriously compressed by NATO sanctions and a shrinking oil price, the presidency less popular than ever and assailed for cutting pensions, Vladimir Putin seems to want to go the way of his French counterpart. Regardless of the absurd addition to costs with no real strategic return, … Continue reading A Russian Air Force Base in Venezuela

The hardline Vzglyad.ru has appeared today with an article by P. Akopov - "Pochemu Brezhneva bol'she osuzhdayut za afganskuyu voinu" - justifying the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. The author, Akopov, resumes the tired lie that the Russians were, after all, invited in, without of course mentioning that Soviet special forces attacked the … Continue reading Back Into Afghanistan or Backing into Afghanistan?

On 3 November I concluded the blog on the GRU's cock-ups with the question: is it goodbye Korobov? Well, it is. Announced tonight in Moscow and confirmed by TASS  but with no notification on the Ministry of Defence website, General Igor Korobov has apparently succumbed after a long illness; no doubt hastened by the chastening … Continue reading It is Goodbye General Korobov

The liberal Novaya gazeta, having already aired private revelations about him in its pages on Thursday, has today drawn attention to a video recording the presence of President Putin's favourite restaurateur, owner of Concord Catering, Evgenii Prigozhin, seated to the left of Defence Minister Shoigu in a meeting with the head of the Libyan military. Indicted … Continue reading What are the Russians Cooking in Libya?

The article published yesterday in Vzglyad ru on theatre nuclear weapons systems - 'Kak predatel'stvo Gorbacheva porodilo unikal'nyi raketnyi kompleks' - reminds us once again that Russia  pays excessive attention to matters military. It always has. The Soviet Union could never afford to outspend the United States in an arms race, as Mikhail Gorbachev found … Continue reading Russia and the Impasse on Arms Control

The birthday of the foundation of Soviet military intelligence by Lev Trotsky is 5 November. The appalling publicity received by the G(R)U as a result of the Skripal' affair and the messy, easily traceable, bare-faced penetrations of NATO communications systems have necessitated a face lift. As was done in 1963, when the GRU had mud … Continue reading The GRU: Out of the Eater Came Forth Meat…

The fifth of November is formally the 100th anniversary of Russia's Military Intelligence Directorate, which the world has long known as the GRU but, as President Putin pointed out, was for some reason re-designated as GU (Main Directorate). Not just readers of this blog will know that the Directorate recently received about the worst publicity … Continue reading Russian Military Intelligence (GU/GRU)