Russian border

Russia Deploys Two Armies, Three Airborne Units to Counter Threat from 40,000 NATO Troops on Its Border

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By Rick Rozoff
13 April, 2021
Ante-bellum

Posted on Global Research

Major Russian officials today have warned of military threats posed by the U.S.-led thirty-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization to its western border: its entire western border. And its northern one as well.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia has redeployed two armies and three Airborne Forces units to its western border as part of what he termed an ongoing readiness inspection.

In one of the sternest warnings issued by a Russian official in the post-Cold War era, Shoigu added,

“We’ve taken proper measures in response to the alliance’s military activities which threaten Russia.” Regarding the ground and airborne forces, the defense minister said: “The troops have manifested complete preparedness and the ability to perform their duties to guarantee the country’s military security. At the present time, these units are involved in exercises.”

He also warned that NATO is now concentrating over 40,000 troops and 15,000 items of armaments and military hardware as well as strategic aircraft near the Russian border, stating: “The troops in Europe are moving towards Russian borders. The basic forces are being amassed in the Black Sea area and in the Baltic region.” He also mentioned the preponderance of U.S. military personnel in those deployments, as the Pentagon is reinforcing troops in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

In addition he highlighted the fact that: “The alliance annually holds up to 40 large operational training measures of a clearly anti-Russian bias in Europe. In the spring of this year, the NATO allied forces launched Defender Europe 2021 drills, the largest exercise over the past 30 years.” (Estimates range as high as 37,000 U.S. and NATO troops involved in the several-weeks-long war games from the Baltic to the Black Seas and the Balkans.) NATO’s “Spring Storm” Exercise: Threatens Russia

The Russian defense minister pointed out that Russia’s western border wasn’t the only location where the U.S. and NATO were threatening his nation. He also expressed alarm over the U.S. and NATO military build-up on Russia’s northern flank, the Arctic. He said:

“The competition between the world’s leading powers for access to the Arctic Ocean’s resource and transport routes is increasing. The US and its NATO allies increase their naval and ground groups in the Arctic, increase the combat training intensity, extend and upgrade the military infrastructure.”

In general Shoigu stated that over the past three years NATO has increased its activity along Russia’s borders.

Also today Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that American warships deployed in the Black Sea off Russia’s coast were a provocation. He was speaking as two U.S. guided-missile destroyers, USS Donald Cook and USS Roosevelt, both equipped to carry 56 Tomahawk cruise missiles and an undisclosed number of Standard Missile-3 anti-ballistic missiles, are to enter the Black Sea tomorrow and the following day. Earlier this year the guided-missile destroyers USS Donald Cook, USS Thomas Hudner and USS Porter and the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey were in the Black Sea for exercises, often two at a time. (The most, in terms of tonnage, allowed by the 1936 Montreux Convention, though Turkey’s proposed Istanbul Canal may eliminate that limit.)

Ryabkov said that American warships sailing thousands of miles from U.S. naval bases “always involves a geopolitics element.”

His comments are worth citing extensively:

“I wouldn’t like to go too much into particulars of various interpretations of what freedom of navigation and freedom of the seas is, especially in this context. I know one thing: American ships have absolutely nothing to do near our coasts, and this is a purely provocative undertaking. It’s provocative in the literal sense of this word: they’re testing our patience and getting on our nerves. This won’t work.”

And he issued this stark admonition in the context of the Western threats to Russia over Ukraine:

“Apparently seeing itself as the queen of the seas […] the U.S. should understand after all that the risks of various incidents are very high. We warn the U.S. that it should steer clear of Crimea and our Black Sea coast. This would be to their own benefit.”

His warning is a timely one as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is at NATO headquarters today, where U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives tomorrow and Secretary of State Antony Blinken shortly after him.

https://antibellum679354512.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/russia-deploys-two-armies-three-airborne-units-to-counter-threat-from-40000-nato-troops-on-its-border/

://www.globalresearch.ca/russia-deploys-two-armies-three-airborne-units-counter-threat-40000-nato-troops-border/5742683

Ukraine is mining territory next to the Russian border

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From Fort Russ

February 12, 2018 – FRN –

The Ukrainian army is mining the territories at the border with the Russian Federation. This was stated on Tuesday at a briefing by the official representative of Lugansk, Andrei Marochko, referring to intelligence data.
On February 11, the body of a Ukrainian soldier was brought to a morgue of the hospital in Severodonetsk, controlled by Kiev.
“It is known that the serviceman died as a result of an explosion by an unidentified explosive device in the vicinity of Kamyshnoye settlement. As it turned out, this site is where a group of Ukrainian soldiers, which included the deceased, was engaged in the mining of territories near the state border with the Russian Federation.”
– said Marochko.

U.S. seeks to deploy Marines to Norway, escalating tension with Russia

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Recall that U.S. officials want to keep this as an “away” game and not a “home” game. An “away” game is where the “game” is “played” on someone else’s home territory. The U.S. government uses other countries as pawns in its “game” for world domination.
It will use terrorism to encourage countries to do what it wishes. If the Norwegian Parliament acts in wisdom and to preserve its sovereignty and denies this “request”, it will be the recipient of terrorist acts or false flag attacks to get it to submit to American will and to convince Norwegians that Russia, not America, is the aggressor. Norway can appease America, or it can stand with other countries for truth. As the world found out during World War II, appeasement never works because the lust of power and acquisition is never satisfied.
By Whitney Webb
Global Research, October 24, 2016
True Activist 21 October 2016
nato encirclement

Norway is debating a “long-standing US wish” to allow American marines to deploy troops in the Scandinavian nation, furthering NATO’s encirclement of Russia.

Norway may allow the United States to deploy up to 300 marines “on a rotational basis” on its soil, advancing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) long-standing goal of encircling Russia’s border with US-allied military assets.

The marines would be stationed in Vaernes, an air station just outside the Norwegian city of Trondheim – only 100 kilometers from Russia. NATO has claimed that this move is part of a long-standing effort to deter “Russian aggression” despite the fact that Russia has in no way threatened Norway or other countries on its borders. NATO ended cooperation with Russia following the Ukrainian coup of 2014, which led Russia to annex Crimea. According to Norwegian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Ann Kristin Salbuvik, “there is no question of permanent deployment” as the presence of the Marines would be temporary, though no timeline has been specified.

cold-weather-training-marines_usmclife

Credit – USMC Life

Not everyone in the Norwegian government was aware of the plan until it was publicly announced last week. Several members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee were kept unaware of the plan, which has allegedly been in the planning stages for quite some time, according to local media. The plan, before being enacted, must first be approved by the Norwegian Parliament, where it faces opposition from several political parties. US officials, however, maintain that 300 US marines in Norway would be “beneficial.” Norway s already stockpiling NATO weapons and, according to some reports, has enough military equipment to support around 15,000 US Marines.

The move will undoubtedly further escalate tensions between Russia and Norway as any presence of US troops in the country would break Norway’s promise not to deploy foreign troops in its territory – a promise it made in 1949. However, the promise was conditional on Norway not feeling threatened. Norway has not publicly announced feeling threatened by Russia or any other country. Meanwhile, NATO has also announced plans to deploy 4,000 more troops to the Baltic region, also on Russia’s border, by next May. According to the commanding officer of NATO’s European forces, Czech Army General Petr Pavel, the troops will “serve as a deterrent and if necessary a fighting force.”

Since the Ukrainian coup of 2014, NATO has overseen a military buildup unprecedented since 1941, when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Russia has been on edge regarding the buildup and has threatened to respond numerous time, but neglected to militarize its Western border until relatively recently. The buildup has also coincided with increasingly dangerous developments in US-Russian relations over the Syrian conflict, with each side accusing the other of helping ISIS and needlessly killing civilians. With US-dominated NATO rubbing salt in the wound, it is no small wonder that Russians are preparing for the worst case scenario – a full-scale, global war between NATO and those who oppose its interests.

The original source of this article is True Activist
Copyright © Whitney Webb, True Activist, 2016
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-seeks-to-deploy-marines-to-norway-amid-escalating-russian-tensions/5552669

“Forgetting history” German politicians on the NATO troop buildup on the Russian border

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Translation from Fort Russ

“Uschi” (Ursula Von Der Leyen, German Defense Minister), with some German troops

Sputnik Germany, April 30, 2016

Translated from German by Tom Winter

The announcement of a possible deployment of German troops to Lithuania for “containment” of Russia has made quite a stir in the media and the social networks in Germany.

The opinions are often widely divergent. From the perspective of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Berlin faces a dilemma. If Germany would refuse the deployment of troops, that would be a lack of solidarity towards the Baltic States. Should it agree, that would strain relations with Russia. However Deutsche Rundfunk [The German Radio] considers these plans quite sound: NATO must guarantee the “territorial integrity of the countries” that “feel unsafe” near Russia.

But this reason, that the states felt threatened by Russia, the Left-politician Gregor Gysi considers unconvincing. “First, it is not about feelings, but the question of whether a real threat exists. Second, these 250 soldiers would be in case of a real war more than superfluous,” said Gysi on his Facebook page. To make his point even clearer, the politician thinks back on history: “Therefore, it is historically oblivious, and escalating, to send troops now to the Russian border”

The Member of Parliament Sahra Wagenknecht supported her party comrade: “Chancellor Angela Merkel is committing an irresponsible provocation, when she sends the Bundeswehr to the Russian border 75 years after the Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union.” [for her press release, click]

In the comments on the Internet, many readers have aired their displeasure about the plan of the Federal Government.

“The border to Africa / Turkey / Syria is open, but the danger comes from Russia. Right! Just crazy,” wrote one user in comments to the article in Die Welt.

Another reader, J89, pointed out that a NATO battalion constitutes no appreciable risk on the border with Russia: This is “symbolic politics.” Other Internet users are unenthusiastic at the prospect of German soldiers in the direction of Russia. A sample:

Bundeswehr as a deterrent? Are the guns straightened out already?

 

Does Panzer-Uschi want to go to Stalingrad, or what?
East of the Oder, no German soldier has anything to look for!

So ends the Sputnik story. Here is the full text of Gregor Gysi’s Facebook post:
The German government plans to involve up to 250 Bundeswehr soldiers in the beefing up of NATO’s eastern flank on the border with Russia. I find the reasoning unconvincing that this was a sign for the eastern NATO members who felt threatened by Russia. First, it is not about feelings, but the question of whether a real threat exists. Second, these 250 soldiers would be in case of a real war more than superfluous. The populations of the eastern European countries also know this, so that a feeling of threat would not lessen. Incidentally, in history it’s this way: it’s not Russia invading Germany, but Germany invading Russia. On June 22, we have the 75th anniversary of the last attack by Germany. Therefore, it is history forgotten, and escalating, now to send troops to the Russian border.

http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/04/forgetting-history-german-politicians.html

Wagenknecht calls for new peace policy instead of NATO’s ‘aggressive game’; press release on sending Bundeswehr troops to the Russian border

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From Fort Russ

Die LINKE [The Left Party]
April 29, 2016
Translated from German by Tom Winter April 30, 2016

New peace policy instead of NATO aggression

“Chancellor Angela Merkel is committing an irresponsible provocation, when, 75 years after the attack on the Soviet Union, she is sending the Bundeswehr to the Russian border,” said Sahra Wagenknecht, Chairman of DIE LINKE.

Wagenknecht further: “The federal government is playing with fire if they blindly support NATO’s aggressive game. A permanent presence of NATO combat troops on the Russian border is contrary to the existing agreements with Russia.

EU eastward expansion and the NATO troop parades are poison for peace and stability in Europe. The deployment of combat units of the Bundeswehr to the Russian border threatens the vital interests of the German population. The German Bundestag must debate it.”
_____________________________
On the same subject, click “Forgetting History”

http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/04/wagenknecht-press-release-on-sending.html

Ukraine is preparing to seize over 400 km of DPR’s border with Russia

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From Fort Russ

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
16th December, 2015
Tvzvezda 

Ukraine intends to establish control over the border of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic with Russia. An appropriate plan was developed by the state border service of the country. This was stated by the head of the department Viktor Nazarenko in an interview to the Agency “Interfax-Ukraine”.
According to him, Ukrainian border guards, together with Ukrainian armed forces and law enforcement authorities, are preparing to seize 409.4 km of land in South East Ukraine.
“We are preparing to take control of the site, which we have no control over, it’s 409,3 km. We drafted a plan, discussed it at the Board, and we must be ready for it. It is a difficult task we must perform. I noted that in this question we will also operate closely with the Armed forces and other law enforcement agencies,” – said Nazarenko.
Previously, Donetsk media reported that the national guard of Ukraine is preparing the invasion of the DPR and moved its military equipment to the contact line. Scouting of the Republic confirmed the fact of accumulation of armored vehicles from the Donetsk and Horlivka directions, and in the village of Pioneer.

http://www.fortruss.blogspot.com/2015/12/ukraine-is-preparing-to-seize-over-400.html

April 7: Russian military intercepted U.S. spy plane, transponder off, headed for Russian border

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From Sputnik News, April 11, 2015

The US RC-135U reconnaissance plane was flying towards the Russian border with its transponder switched off, a Defense Ministry spokesman said in Moscow Saturday.

Maj.-General Igor Konashenkov said that an unidentified airborne target was spotted over the Baltic Sea by Russian air defenders on April 7 flying directly towards the Russian border.

A Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to inspect the target. Moving up to the unidentified aircraft the Russian pilot flew around it several times, made sure it was a US RC-135U reconnaissance plane and reported its tail number to ground control.

“I want to emphasize that the RC-135U was moving towards the Russian border with its transponder switched off… As to the professional qualities of our pilots, this is something for the Russian military command to assess. Moreover, US reconnaissance planes  are supposed to fly along US borders only and nowhere else,” Konashenkov said, adding that no “emergency situations” were registered during Tuesday’s mid-air encounter.

A Pentagon spokesman said on Saturday that a Russian Su-27 jet fighter on Tuesday flew dangerously close to and nearly collided with a US reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea.

http://sputniknews.com/military/20150411/1020753530.html

…”On the morning of April 7th, a US RC-135U flying a routine route in international airspace was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker in an unsafe and unprofessional manner. The United States is raising this incident with Russia through the appropriate diplomatic and official channels,” Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said in Washington.

The Su-27 conducted the close-in intercept in international waters over the Baltic Sea of an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, which was monitoring Russian military activities in western Russia and Kaliningrad.

US media try to persuade that the Russian fighter jet flew within just six meters of the reconnaissance plane in what is described as a “reckless” encounter that endangered the lives of the RC-135 crew.

The Russian  Defense Ministry earlier said that all flights by Russian military aircraft are conducted in strict conformity with internationally-recognized rules of flights in international airspace and over neutral waters without violating other countries’ borders.

NATO officials have in recent months complained about an increased presence of Russian military aircraft in European airspace, including over the Baltic Sea.

Russia’s Air Force Commander, Col.-General Viktor Bondarev, dismissed the reports as a propaganda ploy, meant to divert public attention from NATO’s ongoing military buildup in close vicinity of the Russian borders.

http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150411/1020747388.html

Posted on Fort Russ

April 11, 2015
Rossiyskaya Gazeta (rg.ru)
Translated by Kristina Rus

The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov stated that American reconnaissance aircraft RC-135U was heading for the border of the Russian Federation. This is why a Russian fighter jet Su-27 approached it over the Baltic sea. This was reported by TASS.

According to Konashenkov, on April 7 at 13:18 Moscow time on-duty air defense forces over the Baltic discovered an unidentified aerial target, which was heading towards the Russian state border.

As a result a Su-27 fighter was raised, which approached the unidentified aircraft, flew around it several times, identified it as a spy plane RC-135U of the United States Air Force and its fleet number, which was reported to the command.

After the American spy plane was circled around by a Russian fighter jet plane, the U.S. air plane changed course and retreated from the Russian border.

It was also noted that the spy plane shut off its transponder. Meanwhile, according to Konashenkov, during the flight there were no emergency situations.

Earlier today the representative of the US Ministry of Defense, Mark Wright stated that the Russian Su-27 fighter flew dangerously close to the American reconnaissance aircraft in the skies over the Baltic sea.

It was reported that “the US is preparing to raise the issue through appropriate official diplomatic channels”.

The head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev has urged the US to stop escalating the atmosphere around the flights of Russian military aircraft in the Baltic region.

“In connection with the incident over the Baltic sea it is necessary to remember about one thing: Russia is a Baltic country, and the United States is not,” – added the Senator.

Photographs: U.S., Lithuania hold war games near Russian border

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Another example: the U.S. and South Korea hold frequent war games next to North Korea. Yet, anything North Korea does is termed an act of aggression, while South Korea and the United States are only supposedly engaged in benign activity, even though their exercises involved simulated invasions of North Korea.

This type of intimidation and threat should be completely unacceptable to all good people.

Xinhua News Agency
February 25, 2015

Soldiers attend the U.S.-Lithuanian combined training in Pabrade, Lithuania, on Feb. 25, 2015. Lithuania held combined training with 250 U.S. soldiers on Wednesday’s media day. (Xinhua/Alfredas Pliadis)

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https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/photographs-u-s-lithuania-hold-war-games-near-russian-border/

U.S. combat vehicles 300 yards from Russian border in Estonia

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Here are more photos from Estonia.

Washington Post
February 25, 2015
US military vehicles paraded 300 yards from the Russian border
By Michael Birnbaum

[Excerpt]

MOSCOW: U.S. military combat vehicles paraded Wednesday through an Estonian city that juts into Russia, a symbolic act that highlighted the stakes for both sides amid the worst tensions between the West and Russia since the Cold War.

imageCAWZ12XP
Photograph by U.S. Army

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https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/u-s-combat-vehicles-300-yards-from-russian-border/

US-NATO military convoy of tanks and armored vehicles rolling along Estonia-Russia border

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Posted on Global Research, February 25, 2015
Original article in joostniemoller.nl
By Joost Niemöller

In the video below you can see a long column of military vehicles, including tanks and armored cars. This column, according to the caption, was filmed on 23 February in the border city of Narva, Estonia, The city is located on a reservoir that provides St. Petersburg [electric] power.

UPDATE: The following video is no longer available, scroll down and click the second video Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLUiYaNcfkk – 06:27 min — Танки и бронетехника, военный конвой под флагами США. Нарва. Эстония, 23.02.2015

What is striking about these images is that this military convoy is openly displayed to the public.

Some vehicles are harboring US flags.

U.S. tanks in Narva, on Russia’s border

The convoy is crossing the city [of Narva within less than a kilometer  from the Russian border].  It can be filmed by anybody. [Note the picture below, Estonia on the left.  Russia on the right on the other side of the bridge].

It is a symbol of military superiority.  [Or is it ? Rather low tech in terms of military technology]

You can imagine how Putin might feel in this regard, [a US-NATO convoy] close to his former power base of Saint Petersburg. That might well be the underlying intent [of this military convoy].

This may be part of a major NATO exercise to be held in the area. The Netherlands is also involved. 

Of course, NATO military exercises can occur anywhere. But why specifically are they taking place in Estonia [at Russia’s doorstep]? And why are they displaying American flags right on the Russian border? And why now, with the resurgence of war in Ukraine? (See map right of the city of Narva, Russia’s border town Ivangorod is on the other side of the River).

According to NATO, Putin has a destabilizing influence in the Baltics, and the Cold war is increasingly becoming a Hot War.

…

Original Dutch,  translated from the Dutch. Edited by Michel Chossudovsky, annotations and images by Global Research

*    *    *

Text of the original article in Dutch

De Nieuwe Realist,  24 FEBRUARI 2015 –  http://joostniemoller.nl/2015/02/lange-amerikaanse-colonne-aan-russische-grens-estland-video/#more-5061

Lange Amerikaanse colonne aan Russische grens Estland. (Video)
Door Joost Niemöller

Op de onderstaande video is een lange colonne legervoertuigen te zien, waaronder tanks en pantserwagens. Het is, blijkens het onderschrift, gisteren gefilmd in Estland, in de grensstad Narva. Die stad is gelegen aan een stuwmeer dat St. Petersburg van stroom voorziet.

Opvallend aan deze beelden is dat het openlijk gebeurt. Een aantal voertuigen hebben zichtbaar Amerikaanse vlaggen. Er wordt door een stad gereden. Het kan door iedereen gefilmd worden. Het is een teken van militair overwicht. Je kunt je voorstellen hoe dit door Poetin ervaren wordt, zo dicht bij zijn vroegere machtsbasis St. Petersburg. En zo is het ook bedoeld.

Een en ander kan onderdeel zijn van een grootscheepse NAVO oefening die in het gebied wordt gehouden. Ook Nederland doet daaraan mee. Nu kun je natuurlijk overal NAVO oefeningen houden. Maar waarom specifiek in Estland? En waarom ga je met Amerikaanse vlaggen zo pal langs de grens rijden? En waarom juist nu, met de weer oplaaiende oorlog in Oekraïne?

Van de NAVO kant uit wordt ervoor gewaarschuwd dat Poetin in de Baltische staten een destabliserende invloed zou gaan uitoefenen, en dat de koude oorlog daar steeds meer een warme oorlog dreigt te worden.   (…)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-nato-military-convoys-of-tanks-and-armored-vehicles-at-russias-doorstep-rolling-along-the-estonia-russia-border/5433373#sthash.7ODG9P9s.dpuf

Original source:
http://joostniemoller.nl/2015/02/lange-amerikaanse-colonne-aan-russische-grens-estland-video/#more-5061