Russians responsible for Polish air disaster

I'm not one for conspiracies, but i don't put anything past the Russians. I was skeptical when this video came out of shots being fired at the crash scene. I was still skeptical when the guy who shot that film was stabbed to death mysteriously, because why would any of this benefit the Russians? Well, it has now been discovered that Russians obtained hundreds of NATO and Polish military secrets (including the identities of Allied spies) from the crash, and clearly had something to gain.

NATO code compromise
The recent crash of a Polish military transport that killed most of Warsaw's senior civilian and military leaders was not only a human catastrophe for a key U.S. ally. NATO sources said that, in addition to the loss of nearly 100 pro-U.S. Polish leaders, the crash provided Moscow with a windfall of secrets.

The crash killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski in western Russia on April 10 and decapitated Poland's military, killing two service chiefs, key military aides and several national security officials, many of whom were carrying computers and pocket memory sticks that contained sensitive NATO data.

Perhaps the most significant compromise, according to a NATO intelligence source, is that the Russians are suspected of obtaining ultrasecret codes used by NATO militaries for secure satellite communications.

The compromise of the codes is considered what electronic spies call a "break" for Moscow code-breakers. New NATO codes almost certainly were issued to allied militaries immediately after the crash.

But if the Russian electronic intelligence service, known as the Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information, was able to recover and use the communication key code from the wreckage, electronic spies will be able to decode months' or perhaps years' worth of scrambled communications that are routinely gathered electronically for just such an occasion.

The coded communications, if decrypted, would reveal some of NATO's most intimate secrets, such as plans for defenses and even the identities of agents or allied eavesdropping sources.

full story via the washington times

damnit russia

this pleases vlad

too soon?

hell hath no fury: the russian bombings and the "black widows"

*just as a disclaimer, mindsize does not advocate nor encourage the use of terrorism against any peoples or for any means*

i've never heard of this group until today. this all female terrorist group is comprised of widows of men who were casualties in the russian/chechnya conflict, and want revenge.

Hunt for 'Black Widow' terror gang after female suicide bombers kill at least 38 in bomb attacks on Moscow trains

Police in Moscow were tonight searching for female accomplices of two women suicide bombers who killed at least 37 people and injured 65.

Analysis of CCTV footage inside the Red Arrow underground trains of the two suicide bombers has revealed they were accompanied by two other women.

Their faces were not destroyed in the explosion, increasing the chance of successfully identifying them, and video from other cameras in Moscow Metro stations has also helped identify the faces of the two women who accompanied them and a man.

President Dmitry Medvedev declared Russia would act 'without compromise' to root out terrorists as he ordered airports to be put on alert and security to be stepped up throughout the country.

But suspicion has fallen on Muslim militants from the North Caucasus, where the Kremlin is fighting a growing Islamist insurgency spreading from Chechnya to neighbouring Dagestan and Ingushetia.

Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia's Federal Security Service, said the terrorists were likely to have been 'black widows', Muslim women radicalised by the situation in the North Caucasus.

Analysts said the involvement of women was similar to the 'black widows' in Checnya - women who had lost brothers or husbands to Russian forces in the Chechen conflict.

full story here

this should end well

the ruskies again.
Putin: Russia to develop offensive weapons to keep balance with U.S.
Russia needs to develop "offensive strike systems" to preserve strategic balance with the United States, without producing its own missile defense, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

Putin's comment, made at a press briefing in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, echoed a similar call from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week.

"If we want to retain the balance, we have to establish an exchange of information: Let the U.S. partners provide us information on [their] missile defense while we will give them information on [our] offensive weapons," Putin said.

via CNN

russian scientists, what will they think of next?

this is their best idea since the booze pill.
Monkey to be sent to Mars
The Russians first succeeded in putting monkeys into orbit in 1983. “We have plans to return to space,” said Zurab Mikvabia, director of the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy in Georgia which supplied apes for the programme in the 1980s.

The Institute is in preliminary talks with Russia's Cosmonautics Academy about preparing monkeys for a simulated Mars mission that could lay the groundwork for sending an ape to the Red Planet, he said.

Mr Mikvabia said: "Earlier this programme was aimed at sending cosmonauts, people (to Mars). "But given the length of the flight to Mars, and given the cosmic rays for which we don't have adequate protection over such a long trip, discussions have focused recently on sending an ape instead of a person."
via

i present: moscow cat theatre

russians invent booze pill

of course it's the russians.
Scientists Invent Useless Alcohol Pill, Drinking Gets Less Fun
Leave it to the Russians to invent a much more efficient way to consume alcohol and reenforce bad social stereotypes. Satisfied that all disease has been cured, the world’s energy problems are a thing of the past and our lives are about as perfect as they can possibly be, Russian scientists have figured out a way to transmografy booze in to pill form.

The new pills can be made from any kind of alcohol, be it vodka, whiskey, cognac, brandy or what ever you’d like your pills made out of, although it doesn’t really make a difference since you won’t be tasting your hooch.
via

russians planning manned nuclear rockets to mars

Russia hopes nuclear ship will fly humans to Mars

Russia should build a new nuclear-powered spaceship for prospective manned mission to Mars and other planets, the nation's space chief said Thursday.

Anatoly Perminov first proposed building the ship at a government meeting Wednesday but didn't explain its purpose. President Dmitry Medvedev backed the project and urged the government to find the money.

via Yahoo!

obama allowing russian inspections of U.S. nuclear sites

but at least he got something for it right? especially after we pussied out of the missile defense shield in poland right? maybe some help with iran? some kind of political tit-for-tat?

Nope.

i don't care how much you hate bush, putin knows he could have never pulled this shit with him. read these two stories. if they don't piss you off, you don't have a pulse.
Tentative Inspection Program Would Allow Russia to Visit U.S. Nuclear Sites
Russia and the United States have tentatively agreed to a weapons inspection program that would allow Russians to visit nuclear sites in America to count missiles and warheads.
full story here

'Too early' to focus on Iran sanctions: Russia's Putin
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that it was "too early" to discuss sanctions against Iran, as world powers try to defuse the standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
full story here

obama scraps missile defense shield

this is unreal. i try to give obama the benefit of the doubt most of the times, as i understand he knows a shit-ton more than i do. but this really worries me, i think when it comes to defense we should err on the side of caution. this just makes us look weak, and i don't see russia (or anyone other than Israel) ever helping us cull iran's nuclear ambitions.
East Europe: Rancor, relief on missile shield plan

PRAGUE – Czechs and Poles expressed rancor and relief Thursday that President Barack Obama had scrapped plans for a U.S. missile defense shield on their territories, reflecting deep divisions over a proposal that had angered Russia.
via