This year’s UEFA European Championship has been rocked by violence. While football hooliganism is nothing new, what happened this year appears organized as well as political. Moreover, the worst hooligans involved are Russian. Given the difficult relations at present between Moscow and the European Union, questions have arisen about what’s really going on. First, the…
Category: Russian Corner
Military Defense News: Russia’s T-50 Stealth Fighter Has Engine Problems
United Aircraft Corporation is gearing up to start serial production of theSukhoi T-50 PAK-FA fifth-generation stealth fighter, according to Russian media reports. The eighth prototype T-50 — which is nearly compliant with Moscow’s requirements for a next-generation fighter — is set to make its first flight on June 20. “Unlike the previous aircraft, the eighth airframe is fully equipped…
Military News: 10 Wars That Could Break Out In The Next Four Years
The incoming Commander-in-Chief already has a handful of issues waiting for him or her on January 20th and surely doesn’t need any more foreign policy headaches. Unfortunately, the job is “Leader of the Free World” and not “Autopilot of the Worldwide Ramones/P-Funk Block Party.” Inevitably, things go awry. Reactions have unintended consequences. If you don’t…
Espionage Files: Canadian Intel Report Claims Russia “Mobilizing for War”
A report by Canada’s primary intelligence agency warns in stark language that Russia is “retooling its military for a fight” and appears to be “mobilizing for war”. The classified report was accessed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the country’s state-owned broadcaster. According to the CBC, the document was produced by the Canadian Security Intelligence…
World War II History: 8 Bad-Ass Women of WW2
Heroism — especially in times of war — tends to produce gendered associations. We think of men fighting (and dying) valiantly, while women wait passively at home for their spouses to return. The historical record produces a different picture, however. Among the many heroes of World War II are these bad-ass women. Spies, snipers, surgeons,…
World War II History: The Female Russian Sniper that Planted Over 300 Germans
The 2015 film Battle for Sevastopol is the true story of how Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a female Soviet sniper who killed more than 300 Axis soldiers during World War II, became a gal-pal of the first lady of the United States. That’s a topic so compelling in and of itself that it’s worth putting up with Battle…
Military Weapons From The Past: The Soviet 6P9 (PB) Pistol
Developed for Spetsnaz and the KGB Wet Teams, the PB was a Suppressed Pistol with some Serious Design Compromises Developed for Spetsnaz units and the KGB in the mid-1960s, the Soviet PB — also known as the 6P9 — took the proven Makarov PM design and incorporated a two-stage, integral suppressor. During World War II, the Soviet NKVD had…
World War II Movies Worth A Damn: Fortress of War
This movie is also called “The Brest Fortress”. -SF The film is a flawed depiction of the Brest Fortress siege, but rightly celebrates the defenders’ enormous courage. The 2010 Russian-Belarusian film Fortress of War tells the tale of the Soviet men and women defending an exposed, antiquated fortress. As the first to be hit…
Military Aviation History: 11 of the Worst Soviet Aircraft
The Soviet Union lasted a mere sixty-nine years (the Spitfire has been flying longer), but in that time produced some of the largest, fastest, toughest and most agile aircraft. Even now, 25 years after its collapse, almost all Russian and Ukrainian aircraft have their roots in the communist super state. Favoring clever robust design over…
War Machines: The Terminator-3 Is Russia’s Answer to Hard Lessons in Chechnya
Bristling with weapons, these quasi-tanks are intended to take on unconventional foes in rough terrain While the T-14 main battle tank is the most prominent member of the Armata family, the vehicle series incorporates a host of new fighting machines. Among those is a platform ominously named the Terminator-3, which is a tank support fighting…