russia

11 posts

Crimea – Here We Go Again

Black_Sea_mapThis post is, as we had a couple of days ago, a place to have your say about this weekend’s events in Ukraine.

Here is a brief history of Crimea.

Crimea has been fought over since before it was Crimea. The ancient Greeks set up some colonies, but then came the Romans, then the Crimean Tatars (part of Genghis Khan’s Golden Horde), then Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, and then the Kievan Rus in the 10th and 11th centuries. Byzantine Empire, Mongols, then Venice, and then the Republic of Genoa. Continue reading →

Why Does Russia Support Syria?

Earlier this week news reports broke that Putin’s Russia had upped the ante from merely enabling the carnage in Syria through cynical obstruction to actively aiding it as a Marine squad of Russian “anti-terror troops”  arrived at Tartus, home to Russia’s only remaining foreign naval base. The news should not come as a shock to anyone who’s been paying attention, given that independent Russian journalists on the ground have now for some time been reporting that groups associated with Russian special forces have been operating in the country as “volunteers” in support of the Assad regime, and the fact that Russia’s defense minister has even acknowledged the presence of “military and technical advisors.” Continue reading →

British ‘Spy Rock’ Actually a True Story

Back in 2006, Russian state-run TV aired accusations against the UK that sounded like they were stolen from “Get Smart”. According to the Russians, the Brits planted a “spy rock” filled with electronic gadgetry in a Moscow park. They broadcast pictures and X-Rays of the allegedly captured “spy rock” and grainy surveillance footage showing alleged British agents interacting with the rock. Continue reading →