Russia's National Defense Strategy issues

I'm not sure what I just read. And there really isn't a conclusion either.

It seems to paint that Russia is split between westerners and Easterners but that seems to be very wrong.  Simply because as evidence shows from elections and popularity ratings, Russia has become centrist to its own needs and goals. Yes, loud minorities exist (bloggers and journalists whom are foreign funded) but no one takes them seriously.  Their bs is easily debated and destroyed.

But what exactly is he saying here?  Because Russia going the route of self determination and not allying with anyone besides itself and the people who wish to, is the best method.  They don't have any alliance with China but China knows they need Russia and somewhat vise versa.

Russia has nukes and that is the ultimate guarantee.  No amount of large modern force right at the borders would stop Chinese or US invasion. Instead, having troops more centralized is giving Russia an option to move troops fast to where they must go.  Putin made mention of a need to expand the air fleet significantly for this reason.

I think some of these "experts" rely on playing video games to get their knowledge on military.

I cant see any evidence Russia leaned on anyone ever.

Washington is unhappy that China and Russia are getting closer and not in a small way. China even openly broadcasts that the combination
of Russia and China is more powerful than the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. This must make the NATzO deciders stain their undies. So
they are deploying all their "soft power" assets to try to disrupt this dawning reality. This includes spreading FUD about China's relations
with Russia inside Russia itself. Riling up useful idiots is a key element of the effort to derail the Russia-China de fact alliance.



Long but worth watching.

The article that Franco posted seems to be more centrist Idea as I stated. He wants Russia to greatly expand its military not just west but east to counter both.

But what a lot of these people fail to realize is a few things:
- Russia isn't west or east leaning contrary to what they say. Neither do they provide proof of their statements, there are no statistics to back them up.
- Russia's main enemy now is the west. All disputes are with them and any Russia and Chinese disputes have been resolved. So placing more troops west than east is most ideal because of that. You can't just magically have millions of troops ready at the whim.
- Where will the money come from?

franco wrote:

miketheterrible wrote:I'm not sure what I just read. And there really isn't a conclusion either.

It seems to paint that Russia is split between westerners and Easterners but that seems to be very wrong.  Simply because as evidence shows from elections and popularity ratings, Russia has become centrist to its own needs and goals. Yes, loud minorities exist (bloggers and journalists whom are foreign funded) but no one takes them seriously.  Their bs is easily debated and destroyed.

But what exactly is he saying here?  Because Russia going the route of self determination and not allying with anyone besides itself and the people who wish to, is the best method.  They don't have any alliance with China but China knows they need Russia and somewhat vise versa.

Russia has nukes and that is the ultimate guarantee.  No amount of large modern force right at the borders would stop Chinese or US invasion. Instead, having troops more centralized is giving Russia an option to move troops fast to where they must go.  Putin made mention of a need to expand the air fleet significantly for this reason.

I think some of these "experts" rely on playing video games to get their knowledge on military.

I cant see any evidence Russia leaned on anyone ever.

My take is that the writer is cautioning against getting too close to either side and is against those who want to be part of the West and warning against becoming too dependent upon China... Russia needs to be it's own entity.

Yes, but Russia is already like this. There is no evidence to stage otherwise. Russia has military exercises with China but they have with everyone.

What exactly is his evidence of anything he said anyway? I read the article twice and found nothing.

franco wrote:The China opinion is obviously a fear of his and maybe he believes that too many Russians are leaning towards China in rejection of the West... maybe he is getting this sense internally in Russia for which we are not exposed to or maybe he is just a Chinaphobe  

I think it all has to do with the words of the Russian government.  For a bit now they been talking a lot about close relations with China and even helping China with their IADS which China lacked in.  But at the same time, I think some people are overblowing it and not realizing that, while yes, Russia is hedging its bet on China - that it is simply looking for close relations and new developments.  I mean, Russia could say screw them all and just rely on itself 100% but that is a long and expensive process that may cause internal problems.  Instead, it can keep channels open and still make good money in trade and relations.  But it isn't like Russia is integrating itself in any means to China.  Actually, on the contrary, I see that Russia is insistent there is no alliance with China.

I think the author is right. The west is power hungry and mad. The Chinese don't event attempt to hide their thirst for hegemony either and I don't understand the admiration for Xi's China. It's weird I have seen this admiration for China manifest differently among neocon/neolib types and the "America is the great devil" types.

The author is awesome. Glad I read it.

kvs wrote:Washington is unhappy that China and Russia are getting closer and not in a small way.    China even openly broadcasts that the combination
of Russia and China is more powerful than the USSR and the Warsaw Pact.    This must make the NATzO deciders stain their undies.    So
they are deploying all their "soft power" assets to try to disrupt this dawning reality.   This includes spreading FUD about China's relations
with Russia inside Russia itself.   Riling up useful idiots is a key element of the effort to derail the Russia-China de fact alliance.    



Long but worth watching.  

Frankly China seems to nakedly use Russia as a tool. They don't even much pretend to be allies. The way China has acted concerning Russia and the former Warsaw Pact states. The way they have acted with Syria. The author is right. There is just something so unseemly in how flagrant Xi's China is in it's grasps for power. The Chinese make it quite clear in dealing with them that you are always being used somehow.

If China is using Russia as a tool, then the west is attempting to ass rape Russia and already raped it in the 1990s from which it is still recovering.
The Russian leadership is rather competent and its engagement with China is rational and in Russia's interests. Meanwhile all that Russia
gets from the precious west is hate spew consisting of demands for regime change and revision of history to blame the crimes of Hitler
on Russians. Russia does not need any sort of engagement or detente with the west.

lancelot wrote:If China wanted to attack Russia they would be investing way more in the ground forces.
Instead they are putting nearly all their money on the air force and navy.

Way more on navy than air-force and Russia is gladly helping them with both because in any war with Russia navy would be completely useless

To say nothing of how much money navy is sucking up simply by existing, just look at proportion of defence budget that USA spends on Navy, it's no different for China and with more aircraft carries around the corner it will be even more money

Russia to host SCO anti-terror drills in September

The SCO maneuvers were scheduled to take place in Russia in 2020 but were postponed to 2021 over the coronavirus pandemic

YEKATERINBURG, June 1. /TASS/. The Peace Mission 2021 anti-terror command and staff drills of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will run on the territory of Russia’s Central Military District in September, Central Military District Commander Colonel General Aleksandr Lapin said on Tuesday.

"In the summer training period, we will hold nine joint international drills on the territory of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Peace Mission 2021 anti-terror exercise that will take place in September will be the main event of the troop’s joint training," the commander said.

The SCO maneuvers were scheduled to take place in Russia in 2020 but were postponed to 2021 over the coronavirus pandemic.

"Overall, more than 100 tactical-level exercises will take place in the troops of the Central Military District in the course of the summer training period or 20% more compared to the same period of 2020," the general added.

The SCO member states have been holding regular anti-terror bilateral and multilateral drills since 2002 as part of cooperation in the security sphere. Peace Mission drills are the largest and are held every two years.

https://tass.com/defense/1296507

Preparations in full swing for Russia-Belarus strategic drills, says defense chief

The Zapad-2021 maneuvers are a scheduled exercise and will be held by decision of the presidents of Russia and Belarus and are solely of defensive nature, Sergey Shoigu stressed

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. The preparations for the Zapad-2021 (West-2021) joint Russia-Belarus strategic military exercise scheduled for September have entered the active phase, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu said at the ministry’s board meeting on Monday.

"The preparations for the Russian-Belarusian joint strategic exercise Zapad-2021 that will run at practice ranges of Belarus and the Western Military District have entered the active phase. A series of command and staff drills involving the staffs of various levels have already been held," the defense chief said.

Beginning from June, the Defense Ministries of Russia and Belarus will start "accomplishing a set of tasks as part of the joint drills of special operations forces," Shoigu said.

The Zapad-2021 maneuvers are a scheduled exercise and will be held by decision of the presidents of Russia and Belarus and are solely of defensive nature, the Russian defense minister stressed.

"Our partners will be informed within the time limits stipulated in international treaties about the parameters of the exercise while international observers and journalists will be able to attend it," Shoigu said.

https://tass.com/defense/1296093

Military servicemen from seven countries arrive in Russia for Zapad-2021 drills

The Russian Aerospace Forces’ military cargo planes delivered about 500 troops from Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to a training camp in the Western Military District

https://tass.com/defense/1334645

This video gave a good overview about the ZAPAD-2021 exercise.

Just ignore that heavily clickbait title, and expect a mild anti-russian tone since the "analysis" in this video came from a Polish company (Rochan Consulting).





Am I posting in the right thread. Is Belarus really a foreign country to Russia.

I will be surprised if they don't show the stalled T-14 on Red Square in any footage!

ALAMO wrote:You guys should have witnessed the scale of absurd build around that here in Eastern Europe.
An audience is treated daily basis for a week now with following :
There is a possibility, that Russian/Belarusian forces will try to infiltrate the borders of Baltic states and/or Poland/Ukraine, for several kilometers only.
The maneuvers can be used as a starting platform for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
There can be "little green men" infiltrating the borders, with unknown targets.
All all the crap with the same narration, daily basis, 24/7.
The level of idiocy is mind-blowing.

They know their target audience is mostly naive and heavily indoctrinated, just like US mainstream media.