Two days ago, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of the New Start Treaty, we wrote that this decision paved the way for a future build-up of Russia's operational nuclear arsenal, the latter being today today the only asset remaining in the hands of the head of the Kremlin, to justify Russia's status as a superpower on the international scene, while its conventional forces have been very severely reduced by a year of war in Ukraine. It only took two days, and despite the skeptical comments of some journalists on this subject, for the…
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President Lukashenko announces the creation of an armed territorial defense of 45.000 men
Following the fraudulent re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020, massive and popular demonstrations brought hundreds of thousands of Belarusians to the streets to protest against this new denial of democracy. Supported by Russia, which will send soldiers, security forces and propagandists there, these demonstrations will be very harshly repressed, causing at least 4 deaths, 4000 injuries and more than 30.000 arrests. The Belarusian opposition is either arrested or forced into exile, and the regime is dramatically increasing crackdowns and arrests in the country, even for isolated and small-scale acts, such as wearing the traditional colors of the Belarusian flag.…
Read the articleWhy did V. Putin announce the suspension of the New Start treaty on the limitation of nuclear weapons?
After the Cuban missile crisis, both Americans and Soviets perceived the existential danger represented by the disproportionate nuclear arsenal held by the two superpowers, but also the colossal costs that this arms race engendered for the two countries. However, it took almost 7 years for the two countries to begin discussions on this subject. These will be conducted in Helsinki in November 1969, to give birth on May 26, 1972 to the first strategic arms regulation treaty, called Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, or SALT. This planned to freeze the number of ICBM ballistic missiles held by the two camps at their level…
Read the articleFor the RAND think tank, the stalemate in the conflict in Ukraine would directly threaten US interests
Created in 1948 by the American aircraft manufacturer Douglas, the Rand Corporation is today one of the most influential think tanks in the United States, particularly with regard to military and international affairs, especially since unlike other other major American think tanks, it is not politically affiliated. In fact, his analyzes are most often evaluated with great attention by both American political decision-makers and the Pentagon. Since the start of the Ukrainian crisis, the Rand has produced a large number of often very relevant analyzes at a sustained pace. The latest analysis published on January 27 deserves special attention. In…
Read the articleFaced with the new Russian strategy, is Ukraine aiming to extend the conflict?
Whether on social networks or on continuous news channels, Western public opinion, particularly in Europe, has been inundated since mid-summer, and until a few weeks ago, with the certainty of an early and rapid victory for Ukraine, building on the very real successes of its armies up to October, and on growing support from Western nations that have been more ready over time to provide military aid to Kyiv. However, at the same time, profound changes have taken place in Russia, changes which today are beginning to radically change the face of this conflict. Indeed, if during...
Read the articleDoes the United States want to prevent Ukraine from going on the offensive?
Article updated at 22:00 following the announcement by the United States of sending 30 to 50 M1A2 Abrams to Ukraine. In recent weeks, the issue of sending Western heavy tanks to Ukraine has become a central topic, both for the press and for many Western political figures. Under the impulse of the Polish authorities, it seems that the whole of this problem would come down to the only German position, which refused to send German Leopard 2 heavy tanks or acquired from Germany, to Kyiv. However, and as we already mentioned last week, the German position was in no way different from this…
Read the articleAfter Iran, will Russia also modernize the North Korean armies?
Since the Panmunjeom ceasefire signed on July 27, 1953, the Korean peninsula has remained one of the most intense points of tension on the planet. The nuclearization of Pyongyang, starting from the first successful test of a North Korean nuclear weapon on October 9, 2006, then from a first hydrogen bomb in January 2016, considerably changed the status of this frozen but unfinished conflict in the absence of an official armistice. However, if the North Korean armies line up considerable forces, with nearly 1,3 million men under the flag, 600.000 reservists, more than 4000 tanks, 2500 armored vehicles, 8000 artillery systems or even 500 aircraft…
Read the articleRussian planning is preparing for a confrontation with NATO
As every year, Defense Minister Sergei Choigou and Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov presented President Vladimir Putin with a summary of the state of the forces, as well as the retained for future military planning. Surprisingly, given the news since February 24, this exercise was held in an almost traditional way this year. And as in previous years, the speech made by Sergeï Choïgou reported many progress, in particular in the modernization of the strategic forces which now exceed, according to the abacuses of the ministry, a rate of modernization of 91% for the whole of…
Read the articleThe War in Ukraine disrupted Russian military programming
Since 2012, the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin and the arrival of Sergei Shoigu at the Ministry of Defence, Russian military programming, organized through multi-annual programs called GPV, has been at the heart of the effort to rebuild the armies of Moscow. The last GPV, started in 2017, was to allow the Russian armies to consolidate their digital and technological ascendancy over their potential adversaries, with an annual budget of 2.000 billion rubles, i.e. €30 billion devoted each year to the acquisition of new equipment and modernization of equipment in service. So just over a year ago, when the…
Read the articleThe specter of a general mobilization after Christmas spreads in Russia
After 9 months of a military special operation which was supposed to last only a week, tens of thousands of dead and more than half of its frontline units destroyed, the Russian authorities are struggling to find solutions to try to reverse the catastrophic situation of its armies in Ukraine. Faced with Ukrainian troops carried by a succession of victories, steely morale and increasingly numerous and efficient Western equipment, the Moscow armies deployed in what remains a special military operation in the Kremlin's discourse, no longer succeed to take the initiative, and struggles to contain the…
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