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A new ballistic missile with a destructive power 2000 times greater than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is being tested near the Ural Mountains before it enters service with the Russian Strategic Forces. Armed with 10 independently steerable warheads - and numerous decoys - a single RS-28 'Sarmat' intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can end all human life in an area as large as Texas. According to one US writer, the 100 ton behemoth makes America's 39 ton Minuteman look like a "rocket propelled toothpick".That said, there are a variety of other weapons, both officially acknowledged, and not, that he, and his colleagues, may have in mind:
The western media, for once, is spot on. The 'Sarmat' is the son of the SS-18 'Satan' - the NATO codename for the nearly 50 year old RS-36, which is currently the most powerful missile in existence. The Sarmat will not only have stealth features but can travel vast distances - exceeding 11,000 km - so that it can be launched over either the North or South Poles, creating huge certainty in the enemy's mind. These features make it an extremely useful weapon of strategic deterrence.
"During 2022, Silvergate's deposit base grew dramatically, almost doubling its assets to $210 billion. But the bank did not have either the administrative capacity or market demand to lend out all of the money, as banks normally do.
So, it invested the excess deposits in Treasury bonds and mortgage investment products. But the bond purchases became a problem as the Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates to address inflation."
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on Thursday spoke against any weakening of sanctions against Russia under a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and called for the G7 to tighten its oil cap to squeeze Russia's revenue more.See also:
"We know that Russia is earning less from the oil... we see the economic sanctions, including the oil price cap, are having an effect on the Russian economy and their ability to fuel the war machine," she said on arriving to talks among the EU's 27 national leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
Maybe Russia is making a bit less from selling oil, but citizens of the West are paying up to 3 times the cost for gas, and their governments have been threatening them with rolling blackouts all winter. Meanwhile the West has hypocritically and humiliatingly resorted to buying Russian energy from intermediaries.
"We should continue with that," she said, adding that Estonia would agree to raise the cap again should oil prices rise. She spoke against any weakening of sanctions against Russia as sought by Moscow in the grain deal talks.
"We shouldn't weaken the sanctions," she said, adding Russia could still use 18 ports for its agri-food exports to third countries and that only a dozen-or-so of Russian banks were targeted by Western sanctions.
"Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." — Samuel JohnsonOf course, the newspaper USA Today chose transgender activist Leigh Finke for its Women of the Year award because in the USA of the here-and-now (today, for instance), boundaries are a thing of the past, and if a woman of the year happens to come with the "package" that signifies male-of-the-species, you'd better ignore that incongruity and go along with the gag — or prepare for the punishments that will rain down until your morale improves.
"We are deeply concerned about...summary execution of up to 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons [out of action because of injury] by the Ukrainian armed forces, which we have documented. This was often perpetrated immediately upon capture on the battlefield. While we are aware of ongoing investigations by Ukraine authorities into five cases involving 22 victims, we are not aware of any prosecution of the perpetrators."Almost half of the 229 Russian prisoners of war interviewed by members of the mission claimed torture or ill-treatment, according to Bogner.
"It is critically important to determine what kind of object it is, whether it is related to this terrorist act - apparently it is - and to continue this investigation. And this investigation must be transparent."The Danish Energy Agency has invited the Russia's Gazprom (owner of Nord Stream 2 AG) to assist in salvaging the mystery object. It was actually Putin who was the first to publicly reference the object and ongoing investigative efforts to ascertain what it is, per the AFP:
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who revealed the discovery of the object earlier this month, said experts believe that the object could be a signal antenna to activate an explosive in that part of the pipeline.
...The Danish energy agency released a photo late Thursday of the cylindrical object standing near the Nord Stream 2 pipeline at the bottom of the sea.
The agency said it is "possible" that the object is a maritime smoke buoy, 40 centimeters tall and 10 centimeters wide, and that it "does not pose an immediate safety risk."
"We can't start [it] yet. Without tanks, artillery and [US-supplied rocket launchers] HIMARS, we cannot send our brave soldiers to the front lines. We are waiting for ammunition to arrive from our partners."Zelensky claimed Russian troops had been firing three times as many shells as the Ukrainian side. In light of this, he reiterated his calls for Kiev's Western backers to send more arms and urged them to sign off on deliveries of fighter jets.
Comment: Ironic that Zelesnky has turned on one of the institutions created to support his regime. The intrigue to splinter Ukraine's Orthodox wing from Mother Russia was the work of years.