Russia is sending subs to Gulf!!!

Anyone find any links to this story?

Found this on the Prava message board.

Russia is sending subs to Gulf!!!
Russian nuclear subs to head for the Gulf
05.04.2003 [22:22]

The Russian Defense Ministry is preparing to send warships to the Arabian Sea, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper reports.

According to it, Russian ships will arrive to the Arabian Sea in late April. The official aim of the campaign is to carry out military and naval military exercises there, "according to an agreement with India". However, it seems that this explanation does not reveal the true goals of the campaign. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said recently that the timeframe of the campaign would depend on the situation in Iraq.

According to the newspaper, two scenarios are possible. The first one envisages the occupation of an important onshore facility by marines. Quoting an army general, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports that it might be the oil terminals of Umm Qasr. This action, resembling a quick seizure of Pristina at the end of the Yugoslavian war, might affect the alignment of forces in the post-war Iraq. However, the battle group is not enough strong for this purpose. It will have only one landing ship capable of carrying 150 marines and 10 tanks.

The second scenario envisages a "battle" with an enemy air force. Speaking in Munich in February 2003, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that the battle group would comprise "about ten warships, including submarines and large landing ships".

In the light of new information, it becomes clear that there will be at least three nuclear submarines in the battle group. It will be like an iceberg, with the main firepower hidden underwater.

According to the newspaper, the ships of the Black Sea battle group, comprised of the Moscow cruiser, the large landing ship Caesar Kunikov and two frigates, will leave the Black Sea post of Sebastopol in five or seven days. Ten to twelve days later, the ships will arrive to the war zone. In early May, another three warships of the Pacific Fleet will join them.

Thus, the Russian Defense Ministry expects that the situation in the Middle East will change dramatically by late April, which might require interference from Russia, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta concludes.

I heard about this on a radio station. Flipping through the AM.

Here is a Link to the story:
www.iraqwar.ru...

Russia is the third large member of the triad controlling the economic maneuvering behind the war. Russia is also the only member with the military ability to even begin to challenge us. I dont know that they will attempt an open military confrontation, however, our game plan is well known in international circles, and we will soon be opening a new field in Iran.

My guess is that this may well be the opening scene for overt military assitance to the Iranians by the Russians.

The Moscow times had this to say in respect to Russian interests.

www.moscowtimes.ru...

As far as Russian Militiaty exercises.....

Sunday, Apr. 6, 2003, 2:27 PM Moscow Time

SEVASTOPOL. April 6 (Interfax) - The Russian Black Sea Fleet's tanker Shakhtyor left its base in Sevastopol on Sunday and sailed for the Indian Ocean, where joint Russian-Indian naval exercises will be held in May.

"The tanker and a large landing ship will be the first to pass through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles," a spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet headquarters told Interfax on Sunday.

Then the flagship of the Black Sera Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva, and the patrol boats Pytlivy and Smetlivy, will be clear of this zone.

"By April 11, the entire squadron will have reached the Mediterranean Sea," he said.

Through the Suez Canal, the ships will enter the Indian Ocean and meet with ships of the Pacific Fleet off the Socotra Island.

Earlier on Sunday, the large anti-submarine ships Marshal Shaposhnikov and Admiral Panteleyev, and the tanker Vladimir Kolechitsky of the Russian Pacific Fleet left their base in Vladivostok and sailed for the Indian Ocean to participate in Russian-Indian naval maneuvers

Attached is the link which mentions the above in quotes as well as provides other information on the topic

www.moscowtimes.ru...

Get one of these, copy it, tell others to do the same and give out and/or post this link everywhere!!!

www.webpal.org...

622 meg of usefull info.

ALL FREE TO KEEP,COPY & GIVE AWAY!

Remember the lucky ones go out in a flash. Those who survive need all the help they can get.

EW this is really what is relevant to the issue at hand.

Sunday, Apr. 6, 2003, 9:17 PM Moscow Time

MOSCOW. April 6 (Interfax) - The Iraqi ambassador to Russia declined to comment on an incident on Sunday in which four or five people were injured as a convoy of Russian Embassy diplomats and journalists came under fire near Baghdad.

"All the comments will come tomorrow," Abbas Khalaf told Interfax after a day of unsuccessful attempts to contact him by telephone.

Khalaf and U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow were summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry after the incident but the Iraqi diplomat declined to comment on his visit to the ministry as well

It seems possible that the bullet holes in the vehicles(and people) were from Iraqi weapons.

I expected this conflict to escalate to other Arab nations and have been hoping Russia would stay home. Russia's recent suppling Iraq with hi-tech weapons and technology appeared to project their true colors regarding being America's ally and ulterior motives. I can only hope that Russia won't provide any provocation of a military nature with the coalition forces.

With the recent rumblings from North Korea & China, this could become a major world conflict.

Gosh, it's really looking serious now.

Hopefully, this won't come to a shooting war with Russia.

and get some more facts before saying the sky is falling....

Why suspect this it is anything more than the military exercise it's cited as? And, if not, it's likely going to be more to pressure holding off on moving on to Iran or Syria, than an overt confrontation with the US...

Something is going on with Russia.

They said yesterday that they are going to "reinforce our presence" in Tajikistan, bordering Afganistan.

Mr Putin said Russian "special services have recently noticed increased activity from the Taleban and al-Qaeda" in Afghanistan.

Is that a dig at the U.S? That they cannot control the re-emerging Taliban prescence in Afganistan?

LINK

Also today the Russian Navy reported 'driving' a Los Angeles class U.S sub out of its territorial waters, claiming it was on a spying mission.

LINK

[Edited on 28-4-2003 by kegs]

Maybe they are just coming to try and cabbage on some of the aid going into Iraq. I'll bet those food packets look pretty good to those guys that communism has half-starved to death. And as for Hi-tech weaponry, I hope what they gave Saddam wasn't their A-list stuff cause it was not effective on any scale. Rather than wondering what they going to do when they get to the gulf, I think we should really be wondering if they got enough fuel and supplies to get there.

www.rferl.org...

Tajikistan: Russia, Other CIS Countries To Set Up Joint Military Command
Dushanbe, 28 April 2003 (RFE/RL) -- The leaders of Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Armenia ended a meeting in Dushanbe today by agreeing to establish a joint military command for a regional rapid reaction force.

The six countries are members of the Collective Security Treaty (CST).

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the joint military command will help the countries cooperate more effectively in fighting drug trafficking and terrorism in the region.

Putin also said Russia will offer the other five countries in the CST Russian arms and military equipment at the prices and on the terms at which the Russian military buys them.

The summit also named Nikolai Bordiuzha, the former head of the Russian Security Council, as secretary-general of the CST.

Putin turned over his duties as Collective Security Council chairman to Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov, who will serve as chairman until next year.

The CST was established in 1992 to strengthen cooperation on shared security threats such as terrorism and organized crime.

Sounds more like a secret war. We won't know about it until it hits us like 9/11.

Why would Russia attack USA??

Btw Denmark sent a submarine to the gulf too... Dont you think that they are going to start a war with you too...