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**jgk3** · 06-10-2008, 05:31 PM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Originally posted by Illuminator View Post

Seems to be going for that James Bond look

**North Pole** · 06-10-2008, 05:38 PM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Originally posted by jgk3 View Post

Seems to be going for that James Bond look

**jgk3** · 06-10-2008, 05:45 PM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

haha, ironically, because of that last actor, Putin could pass somewhat for a James Bond too if he held a gun like that :P

**Armenian** · 06-10-2008, 06:09 PM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

One of my favorite pictures of Vladimir Putin:

It seems like Russian politicians like guns, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov:

And Russia's golden boy in Chechnya, Ramzan Dadyrov:

**Armenian** · 06-10-2008, 08:11 PM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Russia�s Military to Secure Interests in Arctic

Russia�s military will secure interests of the state in the Arctic zone, a portion of which is eyed by Russia, RIA Novosti reported, referring to the spokesman of military community. The RF General Staff will shape potential layout of Russia�s Armed Forces by June 1, said Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov, who is the chief of the main combat training department and services of the RF Armed Forces. Once the strength and the qualitative state of the military are determined, the defense minister will specify targets of the Armed Forces, including in part of the Arctic shelf development. The units of Leningrad, Siberian and Far East military districts are being trained to execute missions in northern and Arctic regions, Shamanov said. On the eve of Shamanov�s statement it emerged that Russia�s two strategic missile carriers, Tu-95s, were ordered to patrol the remote districts of Arctic. The announced aim was to train pilots in northern latitudes.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-12652/r_...ctic_military/

Putin urges long-term contracts, stable prices in defense sector

Russia's prime minister proposed on Tuesday switching over to long-term contracts and establishing stable prices for the procurement of armaments for the country's military. "We need to switch over to long-term contracts with arms and equipment suppliers," Vladimir Putin told a meeting devoted to Defense Ministry orders in 2009-2011. "Prices [under such contracts] should be stable." Putin, who stepped down as president in May to make way for his ally Dmitry Medvedev, acknowledged the impact of growing inflation, which hit 7.7% as of June 1 and is expected to be well above the forecast 10% by the end of the year. "Inflation is certainly a problem, but there must be no anarchy [relating to defense contracts], and prices must be stable," he said. "We are in fact talking about the financial basis for the development of our Armed Forces, their modernization and training." Russia's military spending is expected to total 1 trillion rubles ($43 billion) in 2008, or about 16% of budget spending. The figure represents an increase of 20% from 2007. Military spending increased by several times during Putin's eight-year presidency, but the army and navy have remained under-equipped since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with experts blaming pervasive corruption and mismanagement in the military ranks. The Armed Forces have also experienced difficulties with conscription due to harsh conditions, the population's ongoing decline, and other factors.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080610/109887256.html

Russian Navy to expand presence in Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific

Russia's Defense Ministry is planning to expand the presence of the Russian Navy in the world's oceans and extend the operational radius of submarines deployed with the Northern Fleet, a high-ranking military official said on Tuesday. "The summer training program [running from June 1 to December 1] envisions the increased presence of the Russian Navy, not only in the Atlantic, but also in the Arctic and the Pacific," said Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who heads the Defense Ministry's combat training directorate. "We are also planning to increase the operational radius of the Northern Fleet's submarines," he said, adding that the General Staff would determine the new composition and size of the Armed Forces by the beginning of July. The general said that Russia may shift the focus of its military strategy toward the northern latitudes in order to protect its national interests in the Arctic, especially on its continental shelf, which may contain large deposits of oil and natural gas. "We have a number of highly-professional military units in the Leningrad, Siberian and Far Eastern military districts, which are specifically trained for combat in Arctic regions," Shamanov said. Under the Law of the Sea, coastal states hold sovereignty over a zone of 200 nautical mile (370 km) limit, but this area can be extended if it is a part of the country's continental shelf or shallower waters. Some Arctic shelves extend for hundreds of miles, creating a possibility of overlapping territorial claims. Last August, as part of a scientific expedition, two Russian mini-subs made a symbolic eight-hour dive beneath the North Pole to bolster the country's claim that the Arctic's Lomonosov Ridge lies in the country's economic zone. A titanium Russian flag was also planted on the seabed. Russia first claimed the territory in 2001, but the UN demanded more evidence.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080610/109836278.html

Russian strategic bombers complete 20-hour patrol over Arctic

Two Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers have successfully completed a 20-hour patrol flight over the Arctic, a spokesman for Russia's Air Force said on Tuesday. "After completing an almost 20-hour flight, the crews returned to the airbase in Engels. During air patrols, the Russian planes were accompanied by NATO fighters," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said, adding that the aircraft practiced midair refueling. Drik said Monday that a pair of Tu-95s had taken off from the Engels airbase near Saratov in southern Russia for a routine patrol flight over the Arctic Ocean. Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by then president Vladimir Putin. Drik said that all flights by Russian aircraft were performed by skilled pilots in strict compliance with international laws on the use of air space over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states. Although it was common practice during the Cold War for both the U.S. and the Soviet Union to keep nuclear strategic bombers permanently airborne, the Kremlin cut long-range patrols in 1992. The decision came as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the ensuing economic and political chaos. However, the newly-resurgent Russia, awash with petrodollars, has invested heavily in military technology, and the resumption of long-range patrols is widely seen among political commentators as another sign of its drive to assert itself both militarily and politically. Air Force commander, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said in April that Russia would drastically increase the number of strategic patrol flights over the world's oceans to 20-30 a month in the near future.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080610/109878507.html

**jgk3** · 06-11-2008, 05:47 AM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Inflation rates that high in Russia (7-10%)? I guess the problem will most certainly be tackled if they want to start using the ruble in oil deals.

**North Pole** · 06-11-2008, 10:05 AM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Originally posted by HayotzAmrotz View Post

That's because Medvedev is a polite young man and knows that when two men are talking he should not interfere

That's a good one, HayotzAmrotz!

Originally posted by Armenian View Post

One of my favorite pictures of Vladimir Putin:

There is another Putin, however......

FROM BBC:

09 Sep 05

Putin on Mount Athos pilgrimage

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited the monastic community of Mount Athos in Greece, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites.
He was the first Russian leader to visit the male-only community, on a narrow, rocky peninsula east of Thessaloniki, Russian TV reported.
The trip was part of Mr Putin's two-day visit to Greece.
He has openly embraced the Orthodox faith, despite having served the atheist Soviet regime as a KGB officer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4229000/4229342.stm

The President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Karyes, Athos.

Mount Athos is a mountain and a peninsula in Macedonia, northern Greece, called �� (Ayion Oros or "Holy Mountain") in Modern Greek, or Ἅ�� Ὄ�� (Hagion Oros) in Classical Greek. It is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms an autonomous state under Greek sovereignty. Only monks are allowed to live on Athos and the current population numbers around 1,400. The peninsula, the easternmost "leg" of the larger Chalkidiki peninsula, protrudes into the Aegean Sea for some 60 km at a width between 7 to 12 km and covers an area of about 390 km�, with the actual Mount Athos and its steep, densely forested slopes reaching up to 2,033 m.

The seas around the end of the peninsula can be dangerous. Xerxes I had a channel excavated across the isthmus to allow the passage of his invasion fleet in 483 BC.

Mythology

In Greek mythology, Athos, one of the Gigantes, threw a mountain at Zeus, who knocked it to the ground near Macedonia. This mountain was the holy peak of Mount Athos.

The President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the giant Bell of the Russian Monastery of Panteleimon, Athos.

**North Pole** · 06-11-2008, 10:11 AM

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

September 9, 2005

ATHOS, GREECE. Visiting the Russian Monastery of the Holy Martyr and Healer Panteleimon.

Президент России

http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/text/images/93589.shtml