Breaking News from Russia
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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3JPSOLDD.html
Russian Defense Ministry Deploys Jets to Monitor U.S. Spy Plane Flying Near Russian Border
The Associated Press
Published: Mar 22, 2003
MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian Defense Ministry said it deployed two fighters Saturday to track a U.S. spy plane flying near the Russian border with neighboring Georgia.
Russian air defense systems locked on to the American U-2 plane as it began its flight over the former Soviet republic of Georgia, ministry spokesman Nikolai Deryabin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
"To prevent the possible breach of the Russian border, two destroyers were sent up," Deryabin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
It was not immediately clear what the plane was doing. The United States has expressed concerns about the alleged presence of Islamic militants linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network in Georgia's rugged border region near Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya. The U.S. Embassy had no comment.
Deryabin said the U-2 spy plane flew about 12 to 19 miles from Russia's border. He said this was the third time that Russian air defense systems have spotted a U.S. spy plane along this route.
Deryabin said these incidents "cannot but arouse bewilderment and worry from Russia's military leadership," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Georgia, an impoverished Caucasus Mountains nation eager to bind itself closer to the West, has accepted Washington's help in forming its own anti-terrorist units to fight the militants.
AP-ES-03-22-03 0935EST -
another 1 from yahoo...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=518&ncid=732&e=2&u=/ap/20030322/ap_on_re_eu/russia_us_spy_plane
Russia Sends Jets to Eye U.S. Spy Planes
1 hour, 1 minute ago
MOSCOW - The Russian Defense Ministry said it deployed two fighters Saturday to track a U.S. spy plane flying near the Russian border with neighboring Georgia.
Russian air defense systems locked on to the American U-2 plane as it began its flight over the former Soviet republic of Georgia, ministry spokesman Nikolai Deryabin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
"To prevent the possible breach of the Russian border, two destroyers were sent up," Deryabin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
It was not immediately clear what the plane was doing. The United States has expressed concerns about the alleged presence of Islamic militants linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida network in Georgia's rugged border region near Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya (news - web sites). The U.S. Embassy had no comment.
Deryabin said the U-2 spy plane flew about 12 to 19 miles from Russia's border. He said this was the third time that Russian air defense systems have spotted a U.S. spy plane along this route.
Deryabin said these incidents "cannot but arouse bewilderment and worry from Russia's military leadership," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Georgia, an impoverished Caucasus Mountains nation eager to bind itself closer to the West, has accepted Washington's help in forming its own anti-terrorist units to fight the militants. -
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=518&ncid=732&e=4&u=/ap/20030322/ap_on_re_eu/russia_us_spy_plane
Russia Protests U.S. Spy Plane Flight
Sat Mar 22, 4:10 PM ET
By MARA D. BELLABY, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - Russia delivered a statement of protest to the U.S. Embassy on Saturday, accusing Washington of tactics associated with the Cold War after a U.S. spy plane flew near Russia's border with neighboring Georgia
Two Russian fighters were scrambled to track the U-2 spy plane as it flew 12 to 19 miles from the Russian border Saturday, the Defense Ministry said, according to Russian news agencies.
The U.S. Embassy said it had no comment.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Nikolai Deryabin was quoted as saying that air defense systems locked onto the American plane as it began its flight over the former Soviet republic of Georgia, an impoverished Caucasus Mountains nation that Washington has identified as a possible haven for Islamic terrorists, including militants linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida network.
"To prevent the possible breach of the Russian border, two destroyers were sent up," Deryabin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
The Russian Foreign Ministry later said that Saturday's flight by the American plane followed two earlier incidents on March 7 and Feb. 27, prompting Saturday's statement of protest.
"The U.S. is known to explain that the task of such flights is to spot and identify international terrorists and their bases," the ministry said in a statement.
"However we have already conveyed to the American side our concern in connection with such intelligence activity near Russia's border, which can hardly be of real use for the purpose of fighting international terrorism and is more reminiscent of a practice associated with 'Cold War' times."
The Foreign Ministry said that the flights "provoke additional tension in a region that is sensitive from the viewpoint of Russia's security interests."
Russia also said the intelligence gathering was "even more out of place" in light of the recent tension between Washington and Moscow over the U.S.-led attack on Iraq (news - web sites), which the Kremlin strongly opposes.
Georgia is eager to bind itself closer to the West and rebuffed Russian offers to rid the region of militants. Last year, it accepted Washington's help in forming its own anti-terrorist units to fight the militants.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) did not object to the U.S. training, which is continuing. But Russian-Georgian relations have been tense, particularly over the Kremlin's concerns that Georgian efforts to round up the militants have failed to yield significant results. -
Russia's Ivanov Backs Arms Treaty Delay
34 minutes ago
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Wednesday that he supported legislators' attempts to postpone ratification of a key U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty.
Ivanov stressed that he was not withdrawing support from the agreement, called the Treaty of Moscow, only that he felt it was not the right time for a vote with war going on in Iraq (news - web sites).
"Maybe now is not the right moment psychologically to bring this document up for ratification," Ivanov said.
"If we wait for some time, and concentrate all our efforts on ending the war and switching over to a political settlement (of the Iraq crisis), then at a more quiet moment we can quickly deal with this issue," Ivanov told legislators in the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council.
He said that the war, which Russia vehemently opposes, could lead to irrelevant issues clouding the ratification debate.
"This treaty answers Russia's interests. The Foreign Ministry believes that this document should be ratified and we will present it for a ratification," Ivanov said.
The treaty, signed in May by Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) and President Bush (news - web sites), calls on both nations to cut their strategic nuclear arsenals by about two-thirds, to 1,700 to 2,200 deployed warheads, by 2012.
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the treaty earlier this month. The move was widely seen as part of a diplomatic effort to win Russian support for a tougher line against Iraq. But Moscow has only hardened its position.
U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said Wednesday that Washington hopes Moscow won't drag out the ratification, the Interfax news agency reported. It quoted Vershbow as saying the rift over Iraq had led to "serious tension" in bilateral relations but adding that both Bush and Putin had agreed to work to minimize the damage.
The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, had been expected to take up debate on the treaty last week, but it indefinitely postponed a ratification vote because of the threat of an imminent U.S.-led attack on Iraq.
The treaty is considered more advantageous to Russia than the now-defunct START II agreement, which specifically banned Russia from deploying land-based missiles with multiple warheads.
The new deal leaves it to each nation to decide which weapons it will scrap. That will allow Russia to keep its Soviet-built multi-warhead SS-18 and SS-19 missiles at the core of its nuclear arsenal.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=518&ncid=721&e=1&u=/ap/20030326/ap_on_re_eu/russia_us -
Wha world war 3 going to start liao.....
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Russian Not Happy With U.S. Spy Flights
Wed Mar 26,11:25 PM ET
By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Wednesday that Moscow was not satisfied by U.S. explanations of the need for reconnaissance flights over neighboring Georgia.
Russia scrambled two fighter jets Saturday to track a U-2 spy plane that it said was flying near the Russian border. The Foreign Ministry delivered a statement of protest to the U.S. Embassy, accusing Washington of Cold War tactics.
"We have asked the U.S. to explain to us the need for such flights," the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying. "The U.S. says such flights are necessitated by the fight against terrorism on Georgian territory. We cannot accept these explanations ... and will not accept them."
A senior U.S. diplomat said Washington had informed Moscow in advance about plans to conduct reconnaissance flights over Georgia and Azerbaijan.
"Aerial reconnaissance is one way to try to track the movements of terrorist groups," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity, adding that such flights could benefit Russia in its fight against Chechen separatists, who Moscow claims are aided by international terrorist groups.
But Ivanov said it would be impossible to spot terrorists from the high-flying U-2, but it would have no problem spotting Russian military installations.
The senior U.S. diplomat said the flights were far from the Russian border. Russia says the spy plane flew 12 to 20 miles from its territory.
The diplomat said Washington had not decided whether it would take up Georgia's offer to allow U.S. forces to use its air bases in the war against Iraq (news - web sites).
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, who has tried to ally his Caucasus Mountains nation with the United States as a counterweight to its huge neighbor, last week expressed strong support for the U.S.-British attack on Iraq.
The United States has identified the Pankisi Gorge, a rugged border region of Georgia next to Russia's breakaway Chechnya (news - web sites), as a possible haven for Islamic militants linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida network. Georgia, which turned down Russian offers to rid the region of fighters, last year accepted Washington's help in forming its own anti-terrorist units to fight the militants.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=518&ncid=732&e=8&u=/ap/20030327/ap_on_re_eu/russia_us_georgia -
Russians Hold 50-Year Edge Ove U.S. In Most Powerful Weapons
CDI Russia Weekly-#250
28 March 2003
"Now we have the strongest nuclear weapon. Americans are mostly scared, not
with Russia's new mobile strategic missile complexes Topol-M, but with the
old SS intercontinental ballistic missiles created in the Soviet era. These
are the silo-based missiles that Americans call Satan. Russia also holds
wonderful developments of new plasma, laser and molecular weapons; it will
take American scientists up to 50 years to develop such kind of weapons.
Edited by David Johnson
Center for Defense Information
1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20036
phone: 202-797-5277; fax: 202-462-4559
[email protected]
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030327/1/39h5l.html
Thursday March 27, 9:42 PM
Russia successfully launches test ICBM
The Russian military successfully launched a test intercontinental ballistic missile from its northwestern Plisetsk base, military officials said.
The Topol rocket, which was 18 years old, was fired at the Kamchatka peninsula, the usual target for most Russian intercontinental test sights.
"It was a complete success," one military official told AFP.
The military stressed that the launch was in no way linked with the United States' decision to launch the Iraqi war.
"This has nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do with Iraq," an officer at the Russian Strategic Missile Forces press service told AFP by telephone.
"This has been in the planning for months," the official said.
Russia bitterly opposed strikes on Iraq, with President Vladimir Putin taking a tough stance against the war in recent days.
Analysts have interpreted Putin's comments to mean that there has been a rupture in Moscow's relations with Washington sparked by the war.
When contacted by AFP earlier, a Russian military space agency official had refused to answer whether the test had been planned before or after the US-British military attack on Iraq.
Officials said the Topol launch from Plisetsk was the 79th launch of this type of rocket since 1981.