More Bad News for Russia

[AC]

AC, its good that you agree with me that sanctions are working.  Your failure to address Calimissile's assessment of Western support for Ukraine in the face of further escalation and your failure to properly assessment of popular sentiment in the occupied territories leads one to think you're ashamed of your earlier confused ramblings.

This, coming from you.

 

[AkMike]

This report seems to be quite a stretch..

Russian expert: The dollar will be worth 200 rubles
Yesterday, 16:27 2117

 All the worst yet to come Managing Director of the investment company Finam Management Solabuto Nicholas said that by March the dollar will cost about 200 rubles. TOPICExpert: The Flight of the Russian currency has become panicky nature Moscow, November 07 (New Region, Vasilisa Egorova) - Managing Director of the investment company Finam Management Nicholas Solabuto TV channel Rain said that by March the dollar will cost about 200 rubles. According Solabuto, the reason for the fall of the ruble will become cheaper oil and sanctions, because of which it is necessary to pay the debts of Russia, who took us in the West. "All of the worst we have to survive until the New Year. After the New Year will begin recovery of the economy. But this is the most terrible, really terrible, we assume that the dollar will stabilize somewhere in the region of 200 rubles, "- said the director of Finam

http://nr2.com.ua/News/world_and_russia/Rossiyskiy-ekspert-Dollar-budet-stoit-200-rubley-84152.html
© HP2

[sleepycat]

Better get use to the idea of carrying your roubles around in a wheelbarrow!

[lordtiberius]

Ukraine is a great country.  Getting better everyday.

[AC]

Ukraine is a great country.

We can certainly agree on this.  You should read the George Soros article coming out this month.  Ukraine is far more important to the rest of the World than ISIS, IMO.

[AkMike]

Moscow shrouded in noxious gas

Maybe because Putin gave a speech?   

 Or


Residents of parts of the Russian capital Moscow have been urged by the emergencies ministry to stay indoors because of a noxious gas that is spreading through the city.

The source of the gas is unclear - no accidents have been reported at any of Moscow's chemical factories.

Media reports said that the gas was hydrogen sulphide, which can be highly toxic and smells like rotten eggs.

It has been smelt in central, eastern and south-eastern parts of the city.

The gas was also detected in the capital's main shopping areas and around the parliament building, reports said.

Russia's emergencies ministry blamed the problem on a failure at a Moscow oil refinery, Interfax reported. However, the refinery's owner Gazprom Neft said there had been no accident and the levels of hydrogen sulphide at the plant were not excessive.

An earlier report suggested that the foul-smelling gas was coming from a network of facilities treating urban wastewater.

Natalya Gorelova, a 25-year-old resident of north-west Moscow, told the BBC she first noticed the gas on her way to her work in the south-west of the city during the morning.

"I have smelt the toxic gas all day. I'm at home now and I closed the windows. We are sitting at home, but I have a headache."

Exposure even to low concentrations of hydrogen sulphide can lead to headaches, dizziness and nausea, experts say.

"Since 11:00 this morning I have sensed a bad smell everywhere I go," one Muscovite tweeted, "whether at home, in the street or at work. "I thought I was getting sick and having [a] hallucination."

Weather experts quoted in the Russian media say that the effects of the gas have been made worse because the current conditions in Moscow are "not conducive to the rapid dispersion of pollutants in the air".


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29990375

[Brasscasing]

More "Cargo 200" trucks crossing the border.

Ukraine crisis: Russian 'Cargo 200' crossed border - OSCE

..."Vehicles apparently used to transport soldiers' bodies have been seen crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border, monitors from Europe's security body have said.

The OSCE monitors said in one case a vehicle marked "Cargo 200" - Russia's military code for soldiers killed in action - crossed from Russia into Ukraine on Tuesday and later returned."...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30039004

Brass

[Chelseaboy]

Ahhh well,at least plenty of Russian troops will have been having free holidays in Ukraine.

They can't pay for their vacations if they're dead.

[AkMike]

The boys threatened to take away the military tickets and tokens.

Conscripts refused to go into battle in Luhansk  At the border with Ukraine Rostov region of Russia conscripts refused to fight in the Donbas contract.

This was stated by the executive secretary of the "Union of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia" Valentina Melnikova.

She said that one soldier lieutenant colonels gathered at the test site at Rostov and required them to sign contracts and to go to the East of Ukraine to participate in the fighting, but the boys refused.

"That's recruits there (in Rostov - Ed.) Opposed the signing of the contract as a lieutenant colonel, a goat named Medynskyy on the ground at Rostov told them that" you are everything I sign a contract, I have taken out military tickets, pick up chips and we send you to Lugansk "And the guys protested," - said in an interview Melnikov Russian newspaper " Novaya Gazeta ".

Such "rebels" among Russian conscripts counted 250 families of five of them immediately complained to the "Union of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia" and the boys were not sent to war.

"We have complained that illegally forced to sign a contract. I got a good answer Chief of the Defence Ministry personnel that commanders to sign any contracts are not eligible. Therefore, all 250 contracts are not signed," - summed up the human rights activist Melnikov.

As previously reported, "Soldiers' Mothers of Russia" was named the number of dead Russian soldiers in battles in the Donbas.

http://tsn.ua/svit/u-rostovi-250-prizovnikiv-zbuntuvalisya-proti-nakazu-voyuvati-v-lugansku-pravozahisnicya-391487.html

[Brasscasing]

And according to RT even Switzerland's joining the civilized world by upholding the EU's sanctions (something they don't normally do).

Switzerland confirms latest EU sanctions against Russia

..."Switzerland has stepped up restrictions against Russia and signed up to the latest package of EU sanctions against the country’s largest banks and major oil companies.

"In view of the situation in Ukraine, and following decisions taken by the EU, the Federal Council today decided to adopt further measures to prevent the circumvention of international sanctions," the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement on Wednesday.

Switzerland hasn’t formally joined the EU sanctions, but supports the key points. It has tightened up the restrictive measures on five Russian banks and six companies that include the country’s biggest lenders Sberbank and VTB, as well as oil majors Rosneft and Gazprom Neft."...

http://rt.com/business/205059-switzerland-joins-sanctions-russia/

I got a kick out of a comment posted responding to this article...

"Good idea, and if they did that the burning remnants of Russia's economy would keep Europe nice and warm"

Brass

[Brasscasing]

Well, if the little guy didn't get the message before, he's got it now...

Stephen Harper at G20 tells Vladimir Putin to 'get out of Ukraine'

Annual summit dominated by Western anger towards Putin

..."Stephen Harper had a showdown with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, telling the Russian leader to "get out of Ukraine" in a dustup at the Group of 20 summit in Australia.

Harper's spokesman, Jason MacDonald, said the prime minister was speaking to a group of G20 leaders at a private leaders' retreat on Saturday morning when Putin approached and extended his hand.

MacDonald said Harper told Putin: "I guess I'll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine."...

..."According to MacDonald, Putin did not respond positively. He didn't provide further details."...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/stephen-harper-at-g20-tells-vladimir-putin-to-get-out-of-ukraine-1.2836382

“More sanctions? I'm off”: Putin leaves G20 early after being blasted over Ukraine

..."Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to wave goodbye to his fellow G20 summit attendees a day early, after they criticised Russia's involvement in Ukraine and threatened to impose more sanctions on Moscow.

Western leaders from both Europe and North America berated Russia for its part in the recent escalation of military activity in Ukraine, where 4,000 lives have been claimed since the conflict began.

The summit currently taking place in Brisbane, Australia, is supposed to last for two days, but Putin has decided to skip a working session on Sunday and bring forward his departure. Speaking to Reuters, a member of his delegation said this was because he needed to attend meetings in Moscow."...

http://www.cityam.com/1416066568/more-sanctions-im-putin-leaves-g20-early-after-being-blasted-over-ukraine

Putin Will Leave G20 Summit Early After West Blasts Moscow Over Ukraine

..."Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to leave the G20 summit early after Western leaders lambasted him Saturday over the crisis in Ukraine and threatened further sanctions."...

http://time.com/3587185/putin-g20-russia-ukraine/

Brass

[lordtiberius]

Ask Harper if he wants to be President.  The process can't be anymore illegal than what we have right now . . .

[AC]

The summit currently taking place in Brisbane, Australia, is supposed to last for two days, but Putin has decided to skip a working session on Sunday and bring forward his departure. Speaking to Reuters, a member of his delegation said this was because he needed to attend meetings in Moscow."...

http://www.cityam.com/1416066568/more-sanctions-im-putin-leaves-g20-early-after-being-blasted-over-ukraine

He left early because he's accustomed to people fawning all over him, not confronting him about being the dishonest little weasel that he is.  Bravo to Harper!   

[calmissile]

He left early because he's accustomed to people fawning all over him, not confronting him about being the dishonest little weasel that he is.  Bravo to Harper!   

Poor little boy got shunned.       

[AkMike]

Why Russia May Not Be Able To Save The Ruble
The Economist 11/15/2014 BUSINESS INSIDER


Every central banker knows the importance of trust. In a world of fiat currencies--bank notes backed by nothing other than more bank notes--shoppers and firms must have confidence that cash will retain its value in order to hold it.

That trust is being tested in Russia, where the rouble has fallen 23% against the dollar in the past three months.

Such a plunge inevitably brings inflation in the form of more expensive imports, a worry given that consumer prices in Russia are already rising at over 8% a year. Yet in recent weeks there have been creeping signs of something scarier. Faced with a clamour for dollars, Russia's banks have raised the rates they pay on dollar deposits to try to suck some in. Demand for safety-deposit boxes is up, suggesting customers are hoarding foreign currency.

The head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, is struggling to nip this trend in the bud. First, on November 5th, she hiked interest rates, to 9.5%. That means that rouble deposits earn far more than dollar ones, which should make the currency more attractive. Next, she attempted to deter bets against the rouble by replacing the central bank's puny and predictable sale of $350m a day in its defence with the threat of far bigger ad hoc interventions. Finally, she crimped commercial banks' access to roubles to limit their ability to speculate against the currency.

Ms Nabiullina needed to be bold. The rouble's slide has deep causes, none of which will go away. The first is oil. In the first half of 2014 Russia's exports brought in $255 billion, with 68% of that coming from sales of oil and natural gas. During that period oil prices averaged $109 a barrel; today they are close to $80. Applying a proportional cut to Russia's energy exports would slash revenues by over $40 billion, more than wiping out Russia's current-account surplus.

In most economies a big depreciation boosts demand for local products: as foreign goods get pricier shoppers pick domestic alternatives. But Russia's recent history makes such substitution difficult. The transition from Soviet subsidies to market-based agriculture was not a smooth one: production of beef, pork and poultry in Russia and Ukraine fell from almost 13m tonnes in 1991 to just 5m in 2001.

Although there have been some recent improvements (notably in grain production), Russian farming is still hugely inefficient. The result is that many imports--meat, milk, eggs--have few domestic substitutes. Wholesalers that import these goods need dollars to buy them, putting pressure on the rouble.

There are other reasons to sell roubles and buy dollars. Across the economy there is over $120 billion in external debt maturing in the next year according to central bank data. Roughly a third of this is owed by banks, and the remaining two-thirds by other firms. Some of these outfits--notably Russia's energy giants--have dollar revenues.

A big chunk of the remainder, including the banks, do not. Since sanctions prevent many Russian companies from borrowing abroad to refinance these dollar debts, this creates sustained demand for dollars. With chunky repayments due in December, there could be another rouble rout before the end of the year.

The dependence on Western markets and currencies pains Vladimir Putin, Russia's president. On November 10th he signed a deal with Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart, that will see Russia export gas from Siberia to China via new pipelines. The deal provides a huge new source of demand, and could see China replace Europe as Russia's main export market. In addition, an agreement to start trading in yuan rather than dollars will cut demand for America's currency.

But the pipelines will take years to be built and financing for the project has yet to be secured. In the meantime Russia may have to cope with low oil and gas prices for years.

On November 12th a new set of forecasts from the Energy Information Administration, an American government agency, said that oil prices are likely to average $83 a barrel in 2015. On the optimistic assumption that the price will rise to $90 a barrel, Ms Nabiullina still forecasts zero growth and 8% inflation for 2015. Russia's rouble crisis looks far from over


http://www.businessinsider.com/why-russia-may-not-be-able-to-save-the-ruble-2014-11#ixzz3JCKJKtaj

[sleepycat]

We should all have learned by now when the Kremlin denies something, the opposite fact is likely to be true...
http://news.yahoo.com/russian-president-denies-fled-summit-pressure-101813471.html

"On Monday I must go to work. I hope to have four or five hours to sleep," Putin said shortly before leaving Brisbane.

Looks like the little man can't do without his beauty nap!
This won't be helping with his macho man image if losing a day's sleep is going to affect him that much.

[AC]

France says they are not going to deliver the Mistral warships because Russia has violated the terms of the Minsk ceasefire:

http://zik.ua/en/news/2014/11/16/france_not_to_cow_to_russias_demands_to_deliver_mistrals_540957

[AC]

SBU: 7,500 Russian troops and 25,000 local rebels fighting in Donbas

There are 7,500 Russian regular troops in the rebel-controlled territories of Donbas, adviser to Ukraine security service chief, Markian Lubkivsky, said Nov. 13, speaking on 1+1 Kanal TV late night.
 
 “There are 10 battalion tactical groups of the Russian army totaling 7,500,” he said.

 The number of local separatists’ forces is about 25,000, he confirmed.

The operations of Russian reconnaissance groups all over Ukraine have intensified, he said, with SBU effectively exposing and liquidating them, Lubkivsky said.


 

http://zik.ua/en/news/2014/11/14/sbu_7500_russian_troops_and_25000_local_rebels_fighting_in_donbas_540449

[AC]

Weak ruble puts Moscow development projects on hold:


excerpt
At least two Chinese construction and development projects in Moscow were reportedly postponed last week as the depreciation of the ruble, which has fallen over 30 percent to the dollar since the beginning of the year, hit the firms' cost estimates.

On Wednesday, City Hall said Chinese companies that had earlier planned to build one of the Moscow metro lines were putting the project on hold due to the ruble's extremely volatile exchange rate.

In May city authorities signed an agreement with China Railway Construction Corporation and China International Fund to build a line of the Moscow metro in the city's southwestern region, a would-be segment of the gigantic second metro ring to become operational by 2020.

The line's estimated cost was set at $2 billion. In addition to building the metro, the Chinese firms would have the option to develop the estimated 2 million square meters around the six-future metro stations.

But the project so far has been postponed due to "the strengthening dollar," Marat Khusnullin, deputy Moscow mayor in charge of construction and development, said Saturday.

"Our preliminary agreement with Chinese investors was that the payment for the metro construction would be in dollars, but that currency has strengthened and we are now re-calculating the costs and have so far agreed to pay out in yuan," Khusnullin said.

Other Chinese investors last week had more salt rubbed in the wound by deciding against investment in one more large project: the redevelopment of the vast territory of the historic ZiL auto factory, news reports said.


http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/511300.html

[Brasscasing]

And the obligatory expulsion of diplomats has now started ...

Poland, Russia expel diplomats in tit-for-tat spying scandal

..."WARSAW, Poland -- Russian and Polish officials confirmed Monday that they have carried out tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions in an espionage affair that highlights intensified efforts by Moscow to penetrate NATO counties and a new determination by the West to fight back.

As tensions grow over Russia's military incursions in Ukraine, espionage also appears to be returning to Cold War levels. Russia and several NATO members have been accusing each other of stepped up spying, with diplomats allegedly playing key roles in the activity.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said that Polish authorities took the "unfriendly and unwarranted step" of expelling some of its diplomats -- and that Moscow retaliated by kicking out Polish diplomats.

"In connection with this, the Russian side has undertaken adequate response measures, and a number of Polish diplomats have already left our country because of activities incompatible with their status," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, using diplomatic jargon for spying."...

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/poland-russia-expel-diplomats-in-tit-for-tat-spying-scandal-1.2105337#ixzz3JMNm0Q4r

Russia orders out Polish and German diplomats in tit-for-tat expulsions

..."Russia said on Monday (November 17) that several of its diplomats had been expelled from Poland, and that a number of Polish diplomats had left Russia, after Moscow retaliated against Warsaw. On Saturday, Germany reported that one of its diplomats had ordered to leave the Russian capital, following a German decision to expel a Russian diplomat working in Bonn."...

http://www.euractiv.com/sections/health-consumers/russia-orders-out-polish-and-german-diplomats-tit-tat-expulsions-310065

Brass

[AkMike]

Atta Boy Vlad!

 Isolate yourself more!

[AkMike]

Russian satellite photos of the Ukrainian pilot that shot down the Malaysian Airliner.

I guess I was wrong.  :snivel:



Russian military satellite recorded face Ukrainian pilot who shot down the Malaysian Boeing. Recall that the Ukrainian military July 17 was shot down aircraft airline Malaysia Airlines, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Now is not the slightest suspicion that Boeing was hit by the Ukrainian side.


 Despite the poor quality of the picture, it is clearly seen Avenging happy face showing a satellite camera obscene gesture. According to Russian criminologists, passenger liner first gun was fired from a distance of 50 kilometers, and then on the cockpit rocket was fired "air-to-air." The original version of that military pilot just wanted to knock his cap with the captain of the liner and thus make a joke, was not confirmed. Obviously, the Ukrainian punisher deliberately wanted to bring down the plane Malaysian airlines to avenge oil imports by Malaysia at 60% is purchased from Russia.

Currently in Russia into the air terrorism and genocide of Russian criminal case, in which the Ukrainian satellite photo of the pilot will be sent to Interpol.

 


http://novosti-online.info/kiselev-nyus/413-rossiyskiy-sputnik-zafiksiroval-lico-letchika-sbivshego-malaziyskiy-boing.html

[AkMike]

And then again... NOT Quite

Fighter jet crash victim Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot Jr., seasoned F-15 pilot, decorated combat veteran

By CHAD CAIN

Staff Writer
 
Friday, August 29, 2014
 (Published in print: Saturday, August 30, 2014)
 
The pilot who died in an F-15C fighter jet crash Wednesday was a seasoned pilot and decorated combat veteran who moved to western Massachusetts earlier this year to join the 104th Fighter Wing.

Officials at the Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield on Friday identified Lt. Col. Morris Fontenot Jr. as the pilot who died from injuries sustained when his plane crashed in the remote mountains of western Virginia on Wednesday.

Fontenot, 41, whose friends and family called him “Moose,” had flown the F-15 for more than 17 years, worked at Barnes as an F-15 instructor pilot and was the full-time wing inspector. With more than 2,300 flight hours, Fontenot was a decorated combat veteran who earned many medals and awards in recognition of his service.

He lived in Longmeadow with his wife, Kara.

“We all continue to keep the Fontenot family in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time,” Col. James Keefe of Northampton, 104th Fighter Wing Commander, said in a statement.

 
   

 
As State Police blocked media representatives from visiting the family’s home on Clairmont Street in Longmeadow Friday afternoon, one of Fontenot’s neighbors said he was saddened by the news.

“When a friend of mine who works at the base told me it was my neighbor, I just said ‘Oh, no,’ ” said Clairmont Street resident Michael Palazzi, a recreational pilot who keeps his four-seat aircraft at the hangar at Westfield-Barnes Airport.

Palazzi said the Fontenots moved in about four months ago and were still settling into the neighborhood. He said he occasionally spoke with “Moose” and his wife in passing, but did not know him that well.

“We talked in the street and I invited him over to use my tools whenever he wanted,” Palazzi said in an interview by cell phone on his way to the airport.

According to records in the Hampden County Registry of Deeds, the Fontenots bought the house in January.

Pilots are a small community and the news of Fontenot’s death hit Palazzi hard.

“We kind of bond together,” Palazzi said. “To hear anybody go down like that is devastating. It’s very disheartening to comprehend the crash.”

A 1996 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Fontenot had most recently served as commander of the 67th Fighter Squadron based in Kadena Air Force Base in Japan. He served as a squadron commander at multiple locations. Following active-duty assignments in Washington, D.C., Japan, Idaho, Florida, Alaska and numerous deployments in the Middle East, Fontenot joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard in February, according to base officials.

Facebook pages of people who either work at or are affiliated with the 104th in Barnes were full of condolences and sympathetic messages after officials identified Fontenot, including one from photographer Scott Bellone who said he had Fontenot’s wife, family and friends in his thoughts and prayers.

Bellone said he took several pictures of Fontenot earlier this summer at Barnes, one in which the fighter pilot flashed a “victory” sign and another in which a bag labeled “Moose” could be seen in the jet behind him. Bellone said he would likely head to the Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport Friday afternoon to be around others.

Reporters Gena Mangiaratti and Eric Goldscheider contributed to this story. Chad Cain can be reached at ccain@gazettenet.com.

http://www.gazettenet.com/home/13336274-95/fighter-jet-crash-victim-lt-col-morris-fontenot-jr-seasoned-f-15-pilot-decorated-combat
   

[Anotherkiwi]

Russian satellite photos of the Ukrainian pilot that shot down the Malaysian Airliner. Russian military satellite recorded face Ukrainian pilot who shot down the Malaysian Boeing. Recall that the Ukrainian military July 17 was shot down aircraft airline Malaysia Airlines, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Now is not the slightest suspicion that Boeing was hit by the Ukrainian side.


 Despite the poor quality of the picture, it is clearly seen Avenging happy face showing a satellite camera obscene gesture. According to Russian criminologists, passenger liner first gun was fired from a distance of 50 kilometers, and then on the cockpit rocket was fired "air-to-air." The original version of that military pilot just wanted to knock his cap with the captain of the liner and thus make a joke, was not confirmed. Obviously, the Ukrainian punisher deliberately wanted to bring down the plane Malaysian airlines to avenge oil imports by Malaysia at 60% is purchased from Russia.

Currently in Russia into the air terrorism and genocide of Russian criminal case, in which the Ukrainian satellite photo of the pilot will be sent to Interpol.

http://novosti-online.info/kiselev-nyus/413-rossiyskiy-sputnik-zafiksiroval-lico-letchika-sbivshego-malaziyskiy-boing.html

This has to be the most amazing fighter jet of all time - the satellite photo was taken from below the aircraft!     It must also have amazing weaponry if the first gun was fired 50 kilometres from the airliner (and, presumably, hit it!).

How can anyone with the remotest knowledge of aviation (and that includes 95% of the Russian population) possibly believe any of this drivel?  And, seriously, Mike, your second post isn't even needed, even though it's nice to know the real source of the photo.  Just a shame that it was included in an obituary.

[AkMike]

 It took a bit of time to find out whose picture it was.

 I'm sure that the good Col. will appreciate debunking the myth.