Meanwhile In The Baltic Republics And Poland...

[Stuart Galbraith]

The Baltic States are special for us, because they are our responsiblity. Its also the title of the thread, so perhaps if you have an issue with it, this is not the thread for you.

 

And as for the rail repair, I think you have missed most of what I said. It wasnt the time it took to replace rail, thats easy. Blowing one up under a train and derailing it, not so easy. By way of an example, there was a landslide in scotland about 5 years ago that derailed a Class 66 locomotive. As it turned out, it was proving so difficult to get it out, they just cut it up in situ.

[Roman Alymov]

The Baltic States are special for us, because they are our responsiblity.

Like Kurds? How long will it take for another US president to open history books and discover Baltic SS divisions were not exactly landing on Normandy shores alongside US forces? Thanks God this people are no more Russian burden to carry - now they are free to play their ethnic games on own expense, and it is question of time they discover they are actually in the middle of nowhere as old Soviet infrastructure decaying while new Russian infrastructure making their ports and rail redundant. I see no reason to put them on our back again. If they are your responsibility - you could feed them if you want, but now UK is leaving EU indicating your will to feed nations somewhere far away is limited.

 

 

And as for the rail repair, I think you have missed most of what I said. It wasnt the time it took to replace rail, thats easy. Blowing one up under a train and derailing it, not so easy. By way of an example, there was a landslide in scotland about 5 years ago that derailed a Class 66 locomotive. As it turned out, it was proving so difficult to get it out, they just cut it up in situ.

It is standard practice in war time to just push derailed locomotive and cars away from rail size limit to allow other trains to pass freely, or blow them to pieces if needed. Look at standard Russian rail repair train - it carries heavy tractor for that

[Stuart Galbraith]

WE didnt abandon the Kurds. They only still exist in Iraq because of British Prime Minister John Major. Do some research.

Edited November 11, 2019 by Stuart Galbraith

[bd1]

Thanks God this people are no more Russian burden to carry - now they are free to play their ethnic games on own expense, and it is question of time they discover they are actually in the middle of nowhere as old Soviet infrastructure decaying while new Russian infrastructure making their ports and rail redundant. I see no reason to put them on our back again. If they are your responsibility - you could feed them if you want, but now UK is leaving EU indicating your will to feed nations somewhere far away is limited

 

 

as i look out of my window at the moment i look at (probably part ukrainian) working crews finishing replacing my village central heating pipes. beacuse the old soviet system built in the end of 1980´s was built upon the usual soviet pohhuizm and was probably leading contributor to global warming. ​ new central heating will also run on wood pellets since it´s cheaper and is not dependent on highly risky supplier as russia.

and heat price is 25% lower.

 

meanwhile , as for the new harbours - yes it´s welcome since it´s beneficial to world peace and our hopefully final divorce. as we all seek better future for our children, i for one keep hoping for one where russia has turned mostly it´s back on us and can focus on improving their own life.

 

lord knows they deserve it, after finishing most important projects , like worlds largest cathedrals and patriot parks , they can finally turn their eyes to minor problems, like spending 12,2 billion roubles building in-door WC-s in russian schools. https://www.interfax.ru/russia/678568 ​

Edited November 11, 2019 by bd1

[bd1]

and for the west - if we can keep the peace here for the next 20-30 years, the most problems of the baltic states will go away. local russians by that time will be 2 generations separated from russia and their numbers and percentage will drop by natural causes to more normal levels.

 

IF the possible next russian crises , that has been long forewarned , will not appear (hopefully), in the next 5-6 years , then there is probably no other real threat on the horizon to be seen at the moment.

Edited November 11, 2019 by bd1

[Roman Alymov]

 

Thanks God this people are no more Russian burden to carry - now they are free to play their ethnic games on own expense, and it is question of time they discover they are actually in the middle of nowhere as old Soviet infrastructure decaying while new Russian infrastructure making their ports and rail redundant. I see no reason to put them on our back again. If they are your responsibility - you could feed them if you want, but now UK is leaving EU indicating your will to feed nations somewhere far away is limited

 

 

as i look out of my window at the moment i look at (probably part ukrainian) working crews finishing replacing my village central heating pipes. beacuse the old soviet system built in the end of 1980´s was built upon the usual soviet pohhuizm and was probably leading contributor to global warming. ​ new central heating will also run on wood pellets since it´s cheaper and is not dependent on highly risky supplier as russia.

and heat price is 25% lower.

 

Thank you for providing this picture of what was once heavy industry and science region of USSR transforming itself into ethnic village paradise, with wood pellets replacing nuclear power stations and NG. May be it is what locals want, but i personally can't name it progress. Still, we are lucky it is not our problem anymore. But let me point out two things in your description:

1) "the old soviet system built in the end of 1980´s was built upon the usual soviet pohhuizm" (for our international audience, " pohhuizm" could be translated as "f* off style") was still good enough to last almost 40 years - quite a good result for metal central heating pipes. Of course modern plastic-covered pipes with modern insulation like ones used now in Russia to upgrade old systems are far better in saving energy, but it is still unclear what would happen to them in 40 years;

2) Note evil USSR provided village in Soviet Estonia with central heating, while many villages in Central Russia were still using firewood. That is one of practical indication of how USSR was sponsoring regions least deserving it on expense of core regions. Now this policy is gone.

 

 

lord knows they deserve it, after finishing most important projects , like worlds largest cathedrals and patriot parks , they can finally turn their eyes to minor problems, like spending 12,2 billion roubles building in-door WC-s in russian schools. https://www.interfax.ru/russia/678568 ​

 

For those who can't read Russian - this article is not exactly about "in-door WCs" but about upgrading WCs to modern standards. According to this article, 5.2% of Russian schools are not connected to sewage network - but it is normal for village/small city conditions to have own sewage for the building. Taking into account some of Russian schools are located in settlements only helicopter could reach for most of the year, this percentage is surprisingly low.

[Roman Alymov]

and for the west - if we can keep the peace here for the next 20-30 years, the most problems of the baltic states will go away. local russians by that time will be 2 generations separated from russia and their numbers and percentage will drop by natural causes to more normal levels.

What "normal level" for ethnic Russians is set in your country? Do you also have "normal level" for Jews, for example? )

[bd1]

roman , you see

 

​​

Venelaste suhtarv Eesti rahvastikus[muuda | muuda lähteteksti]
Aasta % all. 1881 3,30% 1897 4,00% 1922 3,70% 1934 8,20% 1959 20,07% 1970 24,68% 1979 27,91% 1989 30,33% 1997 28,20% ^[9] 2000 25,63% 2011 24,80% 2012 25,30% ^[8] 2013 25,22% 2014 25,39% 2015 25,15% 2016 25,10% 2017 25,10% 2018 24,93%

looking around the world , around 10% seems to be around the number when everybody seems to get around nicely. 20% and agressive neighbourly media campaigns, not so good anymore. i don´t think we get to the 10% in this century, but 15 would be probably more manageable.

 

as for the separatist issue, this seems to be mainly capital Tallinn issue, because most russians living in east estonia travel to russia more (to buy cheap gas and stuff) and see life in pskov and leningrad oblast and thank probably their god for NOT living there. in capital Tallinn, russians watch russian TV-news and believe some stuff on their news.

Edited November 14, 2019 by bd1

[BansheeOne]

Interestingly, though maybe not surprisingly, the Swedes bother about NATO's capabilities to reinforce their Baltic neighborhood.

 

2 December

 

NATO needs to improve its reinforcement capability

 

If Russia attacks the Baltic States and Poland, NATO needs to be able to quickly support the forces already in place by moving units from other member states. An FOI study reveals not only several weaknesses in NATOs capability to conduct reinforcement operations, but also how the alliance is working to rectify the problem.

 

Since Russias aggression against Ukraine in 2014, NATO has focused on strengthening its defence capability in the Baltics and Poland so as to deter Russia from attacking. NATOs current posture in these countries, in addition to the latters respective national forces, is comprised of a limited forward presence that depends on rapid reinforcement in the event of a crisis. The forward-deployed units consist, among other things, of battalion-sized battlegroups on rotation from other member countries. Moreover, the USA carries out bilateral rotations of American forces to Central and Eastern Europe.

 

FOI was commissioned by the Swedish Ministry of Defence to examine NATOs capability to deploy forces. There are currently several practical, legal, and infrastructural obstacles to efficient reinforcement operations to and within Europe, but which NATO is striving to address. On the one hand, parts of Europes transport infrastructure are unable to support heavy military equipment, while on the other hand the creation of new staffs has led to ambiguities regarding areas of responsibility. NATO also has a problem making quick decisions.

 

"A number of measures have been undertaken to speed up decision-making; for example, NATO has tried to improve intelligence-sharing between member countries and to get them to agree on what constitutes the start of a crisis, so that preparations for deployment of forces can be made at an early stage. But still more needs to be done", says FOIs researcher Eva Hagström Frisell, one of the authors of the report.

 

[...]

https://www.foi.se/en/foi/news-and-pressroom/news/2019-12-02-nato-needs-to-improve-its-reinforcement-capability.html

Edited December 7, 2019 by BansheeOne

[Leo Niehorster]

Really, criticism is good if it helps improve the matter, but remember: Sweden in not a member of NATO.

[Daan]

This report was likely commissioned to improve Sweden's own planning in case of Russian aggression towards the Baltic states.

[carrierlost]

 

Finland, Estonia and Latvia signed a Letter of Intent concerning the development of armoured wheeled vehicle platform

Ministry of Defence 17.12.2019 15.37 | Published in English on 17.12.2019 at 15.40

PRESS RELEASE

The Ministers of Defence of Estonia and Latvia and the Permanent Secretary of the Finnish Ministry of Defence have on 17 December 2019 signed a trilateral Letter of Intent. In the Letter of Intent the Ministries of Defence of Estonia, Latvia and Finland express their intention to engage in common consultations, exploring the possibility to establish a cooperative programme for the development of platform for an armored personal carrier with increased mobility.

The objective of the cooperative programme would be to offer cost-effective solutions to each country's capability requirements, which would first be harmonized to the extent possible. The development of a common vehicle platform could also provide increased value for money, interoperability and security of supply.

The Letter of Intent is non-binding and does not constitute any obligation to procure any service or product.

https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/suomi-viro-ja-latvia-allekirjoittivat-aiepoytakirjan-panssaroidun-pyorilla-varustetun-ajoneuvoalustan-kehittamisesta

[Roman Alymov]

Protecting Estonia from Russians

[Chris Werb]

Yet another cringeworthy photo op. Under the Tories, British Army trained strength has fallen from 102,000 to 74,000. They barely mentioned defence in the run up to the current election. You can be sure some pretty dramatic cuts are on the way to fill the MoD's £20 billion funding black hole.

[bd1]

actually, he´s great-great-great-great-great-grandmother was a german princess who had a very unhappy marriage and spent her last years in estonia in a mansion and is buried here.

[Roman Alymov]

actually, he´s great-great-great-great-great-grandmother was a german princess who had a very unhappy marriage and spent her last years in estonia in a mansion and is buried here.

Well, if we take each "grand" as 20 years , "great-great-great-great-great-grandmother" is 120 years ago, so it is strange German princes was living in Russian Empire. But it is not impossible as this territory was traditionally owned by German landlords and nobles.

But i was focusing not on Boris Johnson, but on privates Simashko and Karpov on both sides of him - exactly the people supposed to be guarding Estonia from Russians while first-class Estonians wait for their "percentage to drop by natural causes to more normal levels" . (Simashko and Karpov are both Russian second names)

[bd1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Augusta_of_Brunswick-Wolfenb%C3%BCttel

 

last names - the guys could (probably are) ethnic russians, but i´ve found that last names are not as reliable as first names as indicators of nationality. my own mothers maid name was german, i´ve worked with a guy called vassilyev who spoke no russian, but had a russian grandfather etc.,

 

last names were given around here in mid 19th century, before that it was based on local farm names etc. when the names were given, it was rather random - some could choose themselves, some were given. iirc in latvia there was a case where a landlord gave a whole village italian last names , just because.

could be urban legend though. otoh in my training company there was a guy called marquis, my own last name is somewhat ...peculiar..ish, my wife´s maternal family name is german , though she can follow the familiy line 200+ years , local blood

 

btw, incidentally back in 1996 my batallion doctor last name was karpov , she was estonian though

Edited December 22, 2019 by bd1

[Chris Werb]

 

could be urban legend though. otoh in my training company there was a guy called marquis, my own last name is somewhat ...peculiar..ish, my wife´s maternal family name is german , though she can follow the familiy line 200+ years , local blood

 

btw, incidentally back in 1996 my batallion doctor last name was karpov , she was estonian though

 

More importantly, was she hot? Enquiring minds need to know!

[bd1]

the doctor? her nickname was terminator, because she was the same build and size as ahnold. there was another doctor, extremely good looking in her early 40ies. once i was batallion orderly and there was night alarm drill, i had to take jeep and driver and collect some officers, incl. the good looking doc.

 

imagine me , 19 year old, 4 months in army, ringing the doorbell at 2.am , when door was opened by her extremely good looking daughter, in sleeping clothes, yawning and stretching like a kitten , then came another ....and another, helping mom carry her stuff , all 15-19 and very well aware of their effect on young me, already 4 months in celibacy.

[Chris Werb]

the doctor? her nickname was terminator, because she was the same build and size as ahnold. there was another doctor, extremely good looking in her early 40ies. once i was batallion orderly and there was night alarm drill, i had to take jeep and driver and collect some officers, incl. the good looking doc.

 

imagine me , 19 year old, 4 months in army, ringing the doorbell at 2.am , when door was opened by her extremely good looking daughter, in sleeping clothes, yawning and stretching like a kitten , then came another ....and another, helping mom carry her stuff , all 15-19 and very well aware of their effect on young me, already 4 months in celibacy.

 

And those loose-cut combat fatigues did little to disguise your embarrassment

[BansheeOne]

Panzergrenadierbataillon 371 "Marienberger Jäger" takes over lead of eFP BG Lithuania in the seventh rotation, for the second time after II/2017.

[Ken Estes]

 

actually, he´s great-great-great-great-great-grandmother was a german princess who had a very unhappy marriage and spent her last years in estonia in a mansion and is buried here.

Well, if we take each "grand" as 20 years , "great-great-great-great-great-grandmother" is 120 years ago, so it is strange German princes was living in Russian Empire. But it is not impossible as this territory was traditionally owned by German landlords and nobles.

But i was focusing not on Boris Johnson, but on privates Simashko and Karpov on both sides of him - exactly the people supposed to be guarding Estonia from Russians while first-class Estonians wait for their "percentage to drop by natural causes to more normal levels" . (Simashko and Karpov are both Russian second names)

 

Isn't Boris yours anyway?

[Roman Alymov]

 

 

actually, he´s great-great-great-great-great-grandmother was a german princess who had a very unhappy marriage and spent her last years in estonia in a mansion and is buried here.

Well, if we take each "grand" as 20 years , "great-great-great-great-great-grandmother" is 120 years ago, so it is strange German princes was living in Russian Empire. But it is not impossible as this territory was traditionally owned by German landlords and nobles.

But i was focusing not on Boris Johnson, but on privates Simashko and Karpov on both sides of him - exactly the people supposed to be guarding Estonia from Russians while first-class Estonians wait for their "percentage to drop by natural causes to more normal levels" . (Simashko and Karpov are both Russian second names)

 

Isn't Boris yours anyway?

 

No idea about Boris Johnson - it is up to Britts..

Back to Baltics, let me repeat my idea: our Baltic neighbors seems to be lost in who is ethnic Russian (hated occupant and to be cleaned out as soon as possible, see "normal level" above) and who is local national (even "with Russian name"). This is not something unusual (even in Russia there is no clear definition of who is Russian and who is not), but with post-Soviet attempts to construct some kinds of ethnic-based states, it is creating funny situations.

 

[bd1]

who is estonian or not, is basicly up to themselves. ironically, apparently most local russians , who have gone to europe, present themselves there as estonians..... ​

and what i wrote about that first names are more reliable sign of one´s nationality, this seems to be changing also, russians are more using neutral names , like jana , diana on girls etc.

Edited February 8, 2020 by bd1

[Roman Alymov]

who is estonian or not, is basicly up to themselves. ironically, apparently most local russians , who have gone to europe, present themselves there as estonians..... ​

Quite logical, as self-identifying to European as "Russian" would put them in strange position, since ethnic self-identification is strange to Europe where Sadiq Aman Khan is Briton while Asma Faraz al-Akhras is not.

 

 

and what i wrote about that first names are more reliable sign of one´s nationality, this seems to be changing also, russians are more using neutral names , like jana , diana on girls etc.

Sorry to inform you Jana (Yana) and Janna are very popular female names in Russia (and were very popular in USSR - my wife is Jana, for example). Diana is also quite popular, especially among Tatars. So your local Russians are acting in line with "Russians from Russia", indicating cultural links still exists despite of all efforts to cut them. I wonder what is

By the way we started with second names on uniform, not first names.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Roman Alymov