20 Aug, 2023

Russia reveals how it would respond to an attack on Belarus

Moscow will use any weaponry in its possession to retaliate against a potential attack on its main ally, Russia’s envoy says

Russia will treat any attack on Belarus as an act of aggression against itself, using all of its military capabilities to retaliate, Moscow’s envoy to the country has warned.

Speaking to the Belarusian STV broadcaster, Boris Gryzlov, who previously served as Russian interior minister, warned any third parties against targeting the country’s main ally.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly said that in the event of an attack on Belarus, we will treat this as an attack on Russia. The military doctrine of the Russian Federation entails, in such a case, a response with all our weaponry," Gryzlov stated, apparently hinting at the option of a nuclear strike.

Russia and Belarus have ramped up their military cooperation since the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Earlier this year, Russia announced the deployment of its nuclear weapons in Belarus, following repeated requests from Minsk to do so. The Belarusian leadership cited aggressive Western policies and the perceived threat posed by US nuclear weapons, hosted by European allies in Washington.

In recent years, Belarus has experienced tensions with its largest EU neighbor, Poland.The two nations have seen their ties gradually deteriorate since the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, which prompted mass protests in the countrywhile its outcome was contested by the opposition. Warsaw, as well as the EU as a whole, openly backed the opposition in its ultimately unsuccessful effort to unseat President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has further damaged ties. Poland angrily reacted to the deployment of Russian nukes in Belarus, and repeatedly sounded the alarm over the alleged activities of Wagner Group, a Russian private military company that ended up being re-deployed in Belarus following its mutiny in late June.

Warsaw claims the PMC has been increasingly active near its border, with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki claiming they were "undoubtedly a step towards an upcoming hybrid attack on Polish territory."Belarus, however, has denied such allegations, insisting Warsaw itself was"aggravating" the situation on behalf of the US.

https://www.rt.com/russia/581561-moscow-belarus-attack-warning/

21 Aug, 2023

Russian military intercepts another drone near Moscow

A hostile UAV was downed in the Moscow Region, according to the Defense Ministry

Russian air defenses have downed an aircraft headed for Moscow, preventing another attempted “Ukrainian” strike on the capital, the Defense Ministry announced on Monday morning.

“On August 21, at around 6:50am Moscow time, an attempted terrorist attack by the Kiev regime involving one plane-type unmanned aerial vehicle was thwarted,” the military said in a brief statement.

The drone was suppressed using “electronic warfare” and crashed to the southwest of the capital, in the Odintsovo district of Moscow Region. Military officials noted that the incident did not cause any casualties or material damage.

Several hours later, the ministry posted another message, saying that another UAV of a similar type had been shot down over the Istra district of Moscow Region at 8:16am on Monday.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed on his Telegram channel that “air defenses have downed a UAV approaching Moscow,” with the incident causing no casualties or damage on the ground.

Meanwhile, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyev wrote that falling debris in Istra district had injured two people and shattered windows in three households.

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, known locally as Rosaviatsiya, in turn reported: “this morning, on August 21, 2023, arrivals were temporarily restricted at Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo airports to ensure the security of civilian flights, and also at Zhukovski airport.”

A total of 45 flights were redirected to Nizhniy Novgorod, Kazan and St. Petersburg as a result.

As of 9:00am Moscow time, all four airports had resumed normal operations.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has ramped up its attempts to target Moscow with drone strikes, which have been mostly unsuccessful.

On Sunday, the military intercepted another Ukrainian drone over the Stupino district of Moscow Region, which also crashed in a deserted area, causing no damage or injuries.

On Friday morning, Ukraine targeted the Russian capital’s business district, with one drone intercepted and downed near the high-rises of Moscow City.

https://www.rt.com/russia/581568-moscow-region-drone-downed/

>>19395842 Russia was right about a lot of things PN

21 Aug, 2023

BRICS aims for just, multipolar world order – Lavrov

The Russian foreign minister says the global community is tired of “blackmail and pressure” by Western elites

Attempts by the “collective West” to preserve its hegemony have had the opposite effect, encouraging the real “world majority” to dismiss the model of exploitation of their resources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has argued.

“Tectonic shifts are taking place in the world today… We are witnessing the emergence of a more just multipolar world order,” Lavrov wrote in an article for South Africa's Ubuntu magazine ahead of the BRICS Summit, which opens in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Lavrov called BRICS a “symbol of true multipolarity” for many like-minded countries, which serves as a “positive force that can strengthen the solidarity of the Global South and Global East and become one of the pillars of a new, more just polycentric world order.”

“The international community is tired of the blackmail and pressure from the Western elites and their colonial and racist manners,”Lavrov wrote. “That is why, for example, not only Russia, but also a number of other countries are consistently reducing their dependence on the US dollar, switching to alternative payment systems and national currency settlements.”

Russia has “consistently stood for strengthening the position of the African continent in a multipolar world order,”according to Lavrov, who promised that Moscow “will further support our African friends in their aspirations to play an increasingly significant role in resolving the key problems of our time.”

The summit in Johannesburg will focus on such “unconditional priorities” as strengthening the BRICS bank, improving payment mechanisms, and increasing the role of national currencies in mutual settlements, said the top Russian diplomat, who will represent Moscow in person, while President Vladimir Putin will join in via video link.

According to Lavrov, the BRICS partnership is gaining momentum, offering many creative initiatives aimed at ensuring food and energy security, healthy growth of the global economy and conflict resolution – although the group does not aim to replace existing international mechanisms, much less to become a new “collective hegemon.”

“That is why we launched the expansion process,” he noted. “It is symbolic that it has gained such momentum in the year of South Africa's Chairmanship, a country that has joined BRICS as a result of a consensus-based political decision.”

Originally consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China, BRICS has only expanded once, when it added South Africa in 2010, without any prior conditions. Member states are currently discussing internally what criteria candidates should meet and how the expansion process would work, given that BRICS takes decisions by consensus. Officials from the five nations have expressed hope that by that time the procedure governing expansion will be finalized and ready for approval in Johannesburg.

BRICS members account for some 40% of the world population and, according to experts' forecasts cited by Lavorv, in 2023 the “Big Five” will account for about 31.5% of global GDP (at purchasing power parity), while the share of the G7 will fall to 30% .

https://www.rt.com/africa/581567-lavrov-brics-summit-south-africa/

Nino’s Corner

Jim Breuer "Be A Jedi In The ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!"

Aug. 17, 2023

https://youtu.be/9eQhM7KE304