India-Russia: News & Analysis

member_20317 · Post by **member_20317** » 01 Jan 2012 19:26

^ because the cat is not in SA it is here inside India. If SA thinks they dont need Gita well good luck. But hell somebody needs to make the Russies understand that they dont need to be afraid of Gita being used to subvert their country. Quite to the contrary Gita can be the best tool to hold their country together (though it is not in any danger of getting apart). If Amerikhans can learn to use a foreign philosophy to their advantage (if it really is the case) then so can the Russies.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 04 Jan 2012 11:26

chetak wrote:
Sanku wrote:"chetak">>Sheer weight of economics and greed will triumph over ideology and over religion every time.

And a real meeting of minds too.

That is mocked, but is true nevertheless.
The issue of a ban in saudi arabia still remains with no one in the GOI willing to bell the cat??

Chetak-ji -- I dont quite understand what you meant here.

I believe it strengthens my point further -- with Russia & India, there is convergence of intrests, as nations, DESPITE the govts in question and thus most things eventually work even if economic relations shudder. With other countries like SA, things are fundamentally opposed, and thats why some things never happen despite all the economic pappi-jhappi.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 04 Jan 2012 14:55

Russia slams US for its hypocrisy and human rights abuse

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 06 Feb 2012 10:25

Mother’s boys: conversations with the parents of Russia’s neo-Nazis

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 12 Feb 2012 02:49

From this book on Kennan.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 13 Feb 2012 01:43

Continuing from above:

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 13 Feb 2012 01:45

It would be interesting to know whether similar analysis can be done for Pakis.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 13 Feb 2012 12:57

What is the purpose of these links. Please elaborate . TIA

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 16 Feb 2012 18:11

India will benefit from GLONASS

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 17 Feb 2012 04:19

Russian superlaser to be as good as H-bomb

Published: 12 February, 2012, 22:41

Russia has launched a $1.5 billion project to create a high-energy superlaser site which designers pledge will be the best in the world. Capable of igniting nuclear fusion, the facility will be used both for thermonuclear weapon and civil purposes.

The new laser device will be used for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) studies. The field aims to recreate in the lab the processes which happen inside a star or in a hydrogen bomb explosion. ICF is similar to what scientists are trying to do with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, but takes an alternative approach to how nuclear fusion is started.

The laser facility will be developed by the Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF), a leading Russian nuclear laboratory. In its six decades of history, it was involved in the development of both the military and civilian nuclear programs in Russia.
The site will have the size of a 360-meter long 10-story building and be built near the Sarov technology park in Nizhny Novgorod region in central Russia, said the institute’s head of research, Radiy Ilkaev, who said it will be a dual-purpose device.

“On the one hand, there is the defense component, because high energy density plasma physics can be productively studied on such devices. It’s necessary for developing thermonuclear weapons. On the other hand, there is the power industry component. The world’s leading physicists believe that laser nuclear fusion can be useful for future energetics,” the scientist said.

The Russian device will be compatible with the American National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the French Laser Mégajoule (LMJ) in terms of their capabilities. The US laboratory is currently online. The French counterpart is due to be launched in 2012. The Russian facility may be ready in a decade, Ilkaev estimates.

Ilkaev says the future Russian facility will be able to deliver 2.8 megajoules of energy to its target, as compared to energy levels of about 2 megajoules for the American and French lasers.
“We are making our device later than they did, because such projects are costly, but ours will be the best in the world,” the scientist promised.

An ICF laser device takes a powerful laser beam, splits it into a dozen separate “beamlets”, amplifies each one individually and shoots all of them at a pellet of fusion fuel. If carefully timed, the pinhead-sized target implodes on itself, which makes the mix of deuterium and tritium in it 100 times denser than lead and heats it up to 100 million degrees. This is enough to start a chain nuclear fusion reaction.

The process is somewhat similar to what happens in a thermonuclear bomb. In such a weapon an ordinary fission bomb is used to produce energy to trigger reaction in fusion fuel. An ICF attempts re-release the same nuclear energy in a more controlled manner.
It may sound simple, but in practice it took scientists and engineers decades to create powerful lasers, special optic systems, techniques for precise target fabrication and other technologies to even come close to success. So far no laboratory has managed to produce more energy in this fashion than the amount used to power the laser.

But when this ignition milestone is reached, the result could be a source of clean power with fuel reserves lasting for centuries to come. Unlike uranium, which is used in present-day nuclear power plants, deuterium and tritium, which are rare variations of hydrogen, are abundant in the oceans.

And for the generals an ICF facility gives an opportunity to find out more about how thermonuclear weapons work. Currently the US, France and Russia are signatories to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which forbids any kind of tests involving nuclear explosions.

It means the military cannot just take an old bomb and detonate it to see if it's still operational after decades of storage. A superlaser capable of performing a mini-H-bomb blast can provide the data to alleviate those professional fears.

http://rt.com/news/russia-superlaser-th ... eapon-123/

India needs to invest heavily in ICF.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Feb 2012 12:19

Russia and the changing world

Another rapidly growing Asian giant is India. Russia has traditionally enjoyed friendly relations with India, which the leaders of our two countries have classified as a privileged strategic partnership. Not only our countries but the entire multipolar system that is emerging in the world stands to gain from this partnership.

We see before our eyes not only the rise of China and India, but the growing weight of the entire Asia-Pacific Region. This has opened up new horizons for fruitful work within the framework of the Russian chairmanship of APEC. In September of this year we will host a meeting of its leaders in Vladivostok. We are actively preparing for it, creating modern infrastructure that will promote the further development of Siberia and the Russian Far East and enable our country to become more involved in the dynamic integration processes in the "new Asia."

We will continue to prioritize our cooperation with our BRICS partners. That unique structure, created in 2006, is a striking symbol of the transition from a unipolar world to a more just world order. BRICS brings together five countries with a population of almost three billion people, the largest emerging economies, colossal labor and natural resources and huge domestic markets. With the addition of South Africa, BRICS acquired a truly global format, and it now accounts for more than 25% of world GDP.

We are still getting used to working together in this format. In particular, we have to coordinate better on foreign policy matters and work together more closely at the UN. But when BRICS is really up and running, its impact on the world economy and politics will be considerable.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Feb 2012 22:47

Putin Assassination Plot Details Uncovered

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 01 Mar 2012 11:20

Here is a 4 part documentary being shown on BBC this month on Putin ,Russia and West

Part-1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-NgW3Q7OYU
Part-2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oTKsNF6fpE
Part-3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd-brZfJZhg
Part-4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgJ1lt3h1HE

Roperia · Post by **Roperia** » 03 Mar 2012 02:06

A nice opinion piece (slightly pessimistic though) on India-Russia relations in light of a rising China, return of Putin and India's growing proximity to the US.

The cold wind from Russia

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 03 Mar 2012 02:38

^^^Cold Wind From Russia:

Volodin makes sense until he says this: "....“India's stand on Syria betrays the same lack of strategic foresight as its recent decision to buy in a tender a 20th century fighter plane for 21st century tasks at a time when a fifth-generation platform that India is jointly developing with Russia is in the pipeline.”

He doesn't get the fact that the IAF's MiGs have to be replaced and fast. Obviously he would have sung a different tune if the MiG 35 had been selected.

Putin has this thing about the Indian diaspora in the US. Cmon' Russia doesn't want Indians and Russians don't either.

He also is on record as saying he can't believe that the Indians capitalized on the IT industry given that Russian talent was so much greater.

Putin's plan is a troika Russia/China/India with Russia of course, leading the poodle pack. He's right to feel threatened by the West but his vision betrays the racism inherent in the Russian worldview. The anti dark skin brigade in Moscow make the Brit skinhead movement look pale (no pun intended here:)).

The Chinese are not fools and they built the country on trade with the West and they are not going to get into a slanging match with their customers.

The real surprise for the Russians is the spine shown by the MEA and PMO in the face of a 'big brother' relationship that is way past the sell by date.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 03 Mar 2012 08:31

Arun Roperia wrote:A nice opinion piece (slightly pessimistic though) on India-Russia relations in light of a rising China, return of Putin and India's growing proximity to the US.

The cold wind from Russia

worth posting this excerpt -

“India's stand on Syria came as a surprise to the Kremlin,” says Prof. Andrei Volodin of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy. He thinks it is shortsighted on the part of India to cast its lot with the U.S., whose global power is declining, and with conservative Gulf monarchies, which are historically doomed. But he admits that India's Syria stand falls into a trend.

“Some upper echelons in the Ministry of External Affairs, alarmed by China's fast rise and backed by the U.S. Indian community and a corporate lobby, are trying to impose a foreign policy course on the country's leadership that goes against India's long-term interests,” the Russian scholar who closely follows India's political scene told The Hindu. Prof. Volodin sees this trend as part of an ongoing struggle in the Indian elite between advocates and opponents of the foreign policy tradition of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, a struggle aggravated by a general decline in the level of strategic thinking in the Indian foreign policy establishment.
...
Five years ago, Mr. Putin, then President, placed India along with Russia and China in an exclusive club of world powers that “can afford the luxury of genuine sovereignty”. As he prepares to reclaim presidency, Mr. Putin has again invoked the issue of sovereignty in foreign policy.

“Everything we do will be based on our own interests and goals, not on decisions other countries impose on us … Russia has practically always had the privilege of pursuing an independent foreign policy and this is how it will be in the future,” Mr. Putin wrote in his election manifesto.

“Syria has put to the test the ability of countries to take sovereign decisions,” says Prof. Volodin. “Russia and China have passed the test; India, unfortunately, has not.”

It is true that the west is in decline, at least relatively. Possibly there is an emerging anti-west grouping including China, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, perhaps Egypt. Out of these, China and Pakistan are traditionally hostile.

And it's true that Indian policies have the appearance of being inconsistent. India is getting criticized by the Russians and the Americans (e.g. Nicholas Burns recently) at the same time. And perhaps some of the criticism is justified. Indian explanations for its stand on Syria have been unconvincing.

But I would say that Indian interest lies in being friendly with the declining west (albeit strictly on our own terms, which could very possibly be favorable because of this decline). At the same time, being friendly with key members of the emerging anti-west grouping (particularly Russia and Iran), to ensure that it never becomes an anti-India grouping.

On issues like Syria perhaps the best policy would be to say nothing and keep a low profile, rather than making lame excuses. Iran too has not been optimally handled. The policy of continuing the trade, but at a somewhat reduced volume, is basically correct. But there is no need to make highly visible statements in the media about huge trade delegations.

Jeff Lira · Post by **Jeff Lira** » 04 Mar 2012 00:57

This is a nice post I found on internet about Russia's declining influence in Europe. There was a time when Russian influence nourished From East Germany to Uelen in far East and other countries like Cuba and North Korea. But today Russian influence has remained mere within the International borders of Russia. The Article studies the relationship of Russia with different European countries who have joined NATO or are yet to join, leading to the decline of Russian influence in Europe.

Declining Russian Influence: Russia's Attitude Towards New and Future NATO Members

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 04 Mar 2012 09:54

Putin’s Russia - Call back yesterday
Twelve years after his first election, Vladimir Putin is becoming president of Russia again. The country is a lot harder to control now

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 04 Mar 2012 10:05

Jeff Lira wrote:Declining Russian Influence: Russia's Attitude Towards New and Future NATO Members

Despite criticism that the NATO expansion would lead to divisions between East and West, it will move forward in building peace and freedom throughout Europe.

Well that sums it all, Expansion of NATO will bring in peace

, I guess we should also consider joining NATO as it would usher in peace

Jeff Lira · Post by **Jeff Lira** » 04 Mar 2012 20:34

Russia observed Presidential elections today in their country. Instead of wishing luck to Putin, analysts have already started congratulating him, as Putin's chances of coming back to Kremlin looks are very good. The authors of this website who claim to be students analyzes how Putin's another term in Kremlin will affect the world and India. It is an interesting article as the writing team actually visited Russia to study the elections in unbiased way

Elections in Russia: World Awaits for Putin to Reclaim the Kremlin

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 05 Mar 2012 10:35

Tearful Putin claims election victory

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fab372ca ... z1oDRjeBjd
.

See Later blaming the wind for the tears in his eyes, Mr Putin wasted no time in declaring victory, addressing thousands of Russian flag-waving supporters at a victory rally outside the Kremlin walls.“I promised we would win. And we did win!” Mr Putin said, to cheers from his supporters. “We won an open and honest battle.”“It was a very important test for all of our people, a test of political maturity and independence. We showed that no one can force anything upon us,” he added.Suggesting outside forces wanted to destabilise Russia, Mr Putin said the country had overcome “political provocations that aimed at only one thing – to destroy Russian statehood and usurp power”.

Deans · Post by **Deans** » 05 Mar 2012 23:09

Putin got 61% of the vote with a 60% turnout. (not the 99% that Western cynics had claimed). In a multi candidate election, that's pretty impressive.
More signfiicantly, the runner up was the Communist leader - Zyuganov. Not exactly someone the Anti Putin camp would like to
see in power. Their canddiate - Sergei Mirinov, got just 3% of the vote.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 07 Mar 2012 16:30

No matter what the west might allege,Putin won faitr and square.The Russin heartland was solidly behind him ,who want stability and not the uncertainity of crony-cpaitalism.In foreign policy,watch the Russians now tke an even harder line with the west on raging issues in the M-East like Syria,etc.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ma ... dache-west

Putin's election victory is a headache for the westWestern countries can look forward to six more years of Putin – prickly, suspicious and fond of snide remarks about hypocrisy

After Sunday's Russian election, David Cameron called Vladimir Putin. He didn't quite congratulate him, but Cameron said that he looked forward to working with Russia's new president when he moved back into the Kremlin. The PM also said he hoped London and Moscow could "overcome the obstacles in the relationship", which, as everyone knows, are rather large.

Putin's election victory on Sunday poses a dilemma for all western nations, not just the UK. Nobody is any doubt that the Putin who returns to the Kremlin in May is the same Putin who has effectively run Russia for the past 12 years – prickly, uncompromising, suspicious and fond of snide remarks about western hypocrisy and double standards.

Inside Russia, the middle-class-led, Moscow-centric uprising against Putin is likely to continue. But the calculation inside EU foreign ministries is that Putin will tough out the protests and complete his new term in office until 2018. For better or for worse, then, it is Putin who will call the shots on Russia's foreign policy and prove strategically co-operative – or not – on the western Balkans, Syria, Iran and other international problems.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 24 Mar 2012 08:05

(Posted here as this is the only Russia specific thread on BRF)

London has for long been the favourite hangout for Russia's millionaires and billionaires,a convenient locale where they can conduct their shady financial transactions in the financial capital of Europe,while the UK govt. turns a blind eye to their activities.In particular,Russian oligarchs who escaped Putin's crackdown have used London a a base from where they have attempted to derail the current regime in Moscow.This latest criminal attempt on the life of a prominent Russia,shows that for Russians,London is the equivalent of Chicago in the early part of the 20th century,when the gangs ran riot.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ma ... n-shooting

Russian banker in coma after London shooting

German Gorbuntsov targeted by gunman in black outside apartment in Canary Wharf on Tuesday

Xcpt:

A Russian banker is in a coma after being shot several times as he walked into his London home in the shadow of Canary Wharf.

German Gorbuntsov, who is in his 40s, was targeted outside his apartment on Tuesday evening by a gunman dressed in black who fired several shots before sprinting away, it has emerged . He is understood to have passed information earlier this year to the Russian police about the attempted murder of another financier in Moscow in 2009.

A Russian exile living in the UK, Gorbuntsov is in a medically induced coma in hospital and said to be in a critical but stable condition. Detectives are treating the shooting as an attempted murder, and have appealed for witnesses.

Scotland Yard would not be drawn on reports that the victim was shot with a submachine gun.

According to Russian media, Gorbuntsov was named as a suspect and a witness in an attack on the financier Alexander Antonov in Moscow in 2009.

Russia's Kommersant newspaper suggested on Friday a possible link between the London shooting and the investigation in Moscow into the attempted killing of Antonov.

Russian police have never established who ordered the attack on Antonov, although three Chechen men were convicted of attempted murder and given long jail sentences in 2010. Detectives in Moscow are understood to have reopened the investigation into the shooting of Antonov earlier this year after Gorbuntsov provided new testimony.

Vadim Vedenin, Gorbuntsov's lawyer in Moscow, told Kommersant that the testimony supplied to police by his client had implicated two of his former business partners in the Antonov attack. Both businessmen deny any involvement in the attack.

Gorbuntsov, who used to own a number of banks in Russia and Moldova, is also wanted in Moldova on suspicion of embezzlement and the illegal takeover of a bank, according to reports in Russia.

Valery Andronik, his lawyer in Moldova, told Kommersant: "He told me several times, 'If I go back to Russia, they will kill me.'" It is understood that British police are not treating the case as terrorist related, but detectives have liaised with officers from the counter-terrorism command. Officers from Trident –who investigate all shootings in London – are running the inquiry.

The last high-profile attack on a Russian citizen in the UK brought relations between the two countries to breaking point.

The murder of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in 2006, was treated as a state supported assassination.

Litvinenko's death from poisoning by radioactive polonium-210 sparked a diplomatic battle between the UK and Russia. Moscow has refused to extradite one of its intelligence agents, Andrei Lugovoi, whom the UK suspects of a role in the poisoning.

At this stage, it is understood there is nothing to suggest that the attack on Gorbuntsov was in the same category as the Litvinenko case. Scotland Yard said the victim had been shot as he went into his block of flats in Byng Street on Tuesday night.

The gunman, who was wearing dark clothing and was about 6ft tall, was seen running away down Westferry Road after a number of shots had rung out.

A Yard spokesman said: "Officers and London ambulance service attended and a man, aged in his 40s, was taken to hospital. His condition is described as critical but stable.

"Detectives from the Trident gang crime command are investigating and are treating the shooting as attempted murder. They are keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time or who may have information about the incident."

There have been no arrests over the shooting.

Gorbuntsov also had legal problems in Moldova. The businessman bought Universalbank in 2008 but the bank's shares were suspended in March 2011 because of $5bn (£3.15bn) of debt owed to several Russian firms. The national bank of Moldova withdrew the bank's licence in February.

Moldovan prosecutors wanted Gorbuntsov on a number of charges including seizure of a bank and stealing bank funds. A warrant for his arrest was issued in the former Soviet republic.

"All the main proof of his guilt has been gathered," said prosecutor Viorel Rasetsky.

Gorbuntsov has denied any wrongdoing.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 25 Mar 2012 05:20

More intriguing details on the German Gorb assassination attempt."Mystery blonde"!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -shot.html

Russian banker was with mystery blonde when shot
The wife of Russian banker German Gorbuntsov has still to be allowed to visit her critically ill husband in hospital where he is under armed guard after being shot outside his London home.

Xcpts:

By Robert Mendick, Ben Leach, David Barrett and Tom Parfitt
24 Mar 2012

German Gorbuntsov, a Russian banker with a lot of enemies, had come to London for his own safety.

He had repeatedly told his lawyer he could never return to his homeland. “If I go back to Russia, they will kill me,” he had said. In the end, London wasn’t far enough away. They — whoever they are — got him anyway.

On Tuesday evening, Mr Gorbuntsov was shot at least four, and as many as six, times as he entered the lobby of a modern apartment building in the shadow of Canary Wharf. Moscow’s gangland violence had spread to one of London’s quieter streets.

Mr Gorbuntsov collapsed to the floor, blood pouring from wounds to his stomach and chest. A young blonde woman, at first reported to be his wife but now thought to be a very close friend, was at his side as first police and then paramedics battled to save his life.

“There was a lot of blood. The window had been shot out in the door and you could see blood on the walls and on the floor tiles,” said Tony Smith, 26, an estate agent who lives in the same block.

Mr Gorbuntsov, 45, who has been a major shareholder of InKredBank and owned Moscow’s biggest ice hockey team, had been stripped to his green boxer shorts by paramedics so they could assess his injuries.

He lay half across the doormat and half across the grey floor tiles.

“He was still alive – I could hear him breathing and groaning,” said Mr Smith.

The blonde companion, dressed in jeans and a pink top, was standing beside her friend, at times calm and at times in tears.

“She was obviously upset, she was crying,” said another witness, Emma Key, 30, “She was trying to get into the ambulance. A policeman was attempting to hold her back.”

Mr Gorbuntsov was put into an ambulance, but before it reached the end of the road, it stopped and he was brought outside and given emergency treatment. Armed officers kept watch over him as paramedics worked frantically to keep him alive.

“There were about eight paramedics working on him and they were surrounded by about four armed police guards,” said Mr Smith. “I think he must have died at that point and they were trying to resuscitate him. But because there were so many of them they had to get out of the ambulance to work on him.”

Incredibly, Mr Gorbuntsov survived. Last night he was at an unidentified hospital under armed guard, critically ill but stable and in a medically-induced coma. His would-be assassin, described as white, 6ft tall and slim, remained at large.

Detectives charged with tracking down the hitman and whoever hired him were examining CCTV footage and forensic evidence. But they faced an uphill task.

There were several theories as to a motive, involving, in no particular order: armed Chechen gangs; a Russian police investigation into the shooting of Mr Gorbuntsov’s business partner; tens of millions missing from Russia’s state railway; and allegations of embezzlement and the illegal takeover of a bank in neighbouring Moldova.

“This is still very early days in performing this work,” said a Scotland Yard source. “There are a variety of things which could be involved here and the team are trying to pick their way through it, to see which of the many possibilities is the most likely. Hopefully the man who was shot will pull through and, clearly, we will want to talk to him.”

Officers will also be interviewing, if they haven’t already, Mr Gorbuntsov’s wife, Larisa, as well as the blonde woman at his side.

According to Mr Gorbuntsov’s lawyer, his wife took a plane to London as soon as she heard that her husband had been shot.

The couple have a 25-year-old son, Vladislav, who is due in London this week, once he obtains a visa. Intriguingly, Mr Gorbuntsov also has a young child by a woman who, according to his lawyer, is not his wife. It was not clear if this was the companion who was with him when he was shot.

Mrs Gorbuntsova’s Facebook page shows pictures of her and her husband looking relaxed and happy on holiday in Prague last August.

The banker, a bear of a man, wraps his arm around her as the couple cross the city’s Charles bridge. In another photo, they pose in one of the city’s squares like typical tourists.

On Sept 4 last year, Mrs Gorbuntsova was positively gushing about her husband. “I never realised that at this age a birthday could be such a wonderful celebration,” she posted. “As always, my darling husband arranged the most gorgeous celebration for me. I adore my beloved.”

The couple seemed not to have a care in the world. But behind the scenes, his business life — and by implication his wife’s too, because it is suggested many of his assets are in her name — was in turmoil.

Mr Gorbuntsov made his vast fortune in banking and construction, having started out as something of an enforcer himself. In the 1980s, he was convicted of armed assault and sentenced to three years in jail. Following his release, he set up 40 companies in 15 years in the spheres of security, finance, construction and real estate.

In the cut-throat, wild west world of Russian business, he gained numerous enemies along the way. An early business partner was jailed in 2008 for ordering the murder of an anti-corruption campaigner while Mr Gorbuntsov went from strength to strength.

He owned major shareholdings in banks including

InKredBank and Konversbank, the financial institution Interprogress and the construction company Flet I Ko. He was the owner of Moscow’s Spartak ice hockey club. In 2008, he became a citizen of Moldova, a state which has been criticised for its standards of adherence to the rule of law, and bought its Universalbank.

But having built up an empire worth as much as several billion pounds, his luck began to run out. His business partner, Alexander Antonov, whose son Vladimir once owned Portsmouth football club, was shot in a Moscow street in 2009.

Mr Antonov survived the attack, for which three Chechen gunmen were convicted, although police never established who had hired them.

The same Chechen gang was also convicted of the successful assassination of a Chechen politician and businessman who had challenged the authority of Chechnya’s powerful president, Ramzan Kadyrov.

In 2010, Mr Gorbuntsov, fearing for his own life, fled to London. In an interview with a Russian news website in October last year, he said, with some prescience: “If I go to Russia I’ll be killed or put in prison. I left Russia in 2010 when I understood that it had become dangerous for me to stay there.”

It is not clear where he moved to in London. His wife lists an estate agent in Wandsworth, in the south-west of the capital, as a Facebook favourite.

The apartment block in east London where he was shot was popular for expensive short-term lets but not exactly a suitable residence for a wealthy banker.

Nobody recalls seeing the Russian there, opening up the possibility that he was followed to the flats by the hitman, who then seized his opportunity.

According to one report, Mr Gorbuntsov had spoken of a dark-coloured Audi following him a week before the attack.

The banker certainly kept his head down and it appears that none of the usual fixers associated with Russians in London had come across him.

His low profile could also have been linked to Moldova’s decision last year to declare that he was wanted over allegations of large-scale embezzlement.

Last week, the Moldovan authorities stepped up their pressure on Mr Gorbuntsov, a prosecutor telling a Russian newspaper: “All the main evidence of his guilt has already been gathered.”

One area the police will be examining is how Mr Gorbuntsov fell out with two other business partners, Petr Chuvilin and Sergei Mendeleyev, two former executives of his InKredBank.

Last month, Mr Gorbuntsov gave a sworn statement to his Moscow lawyer, Vadim Vedenin, naming Mr Chuvilin and Mr Mendeleyev as the men responsible for Mr Antonov’s attempted murder in 2009, allegedly as a way of settling a debt of tens of millions of pounds.

The debt, oddly enough, was said to be owed to Mr Gorbuntsov, who had discussed with the two men how to get the money back but insisted he never sanctioned the subsequent shooting. Mr Antonov has absolved his business partner of any blame.

Mr Antonov said: “We solved our business dispute normally. I never suspected him in the attack on me. He was often in London and he moved there about a year ago. He does business internationally; I don’t know the details. He’s a very good, effective developer, he’s good in finance. He’s a self-sufficient businessman.”

He added: “As far as I know, he was leading a happy life, he has a family and he recently had a child.” A spokesman for his son, Vladmir Antonov, said: “He is saddened and shocked by this tragic outrage in London. He has contacted both the British and Russian investigating teams and is doing all he can to support their investigations.”

Mr Gorbuntsov’s statement naming his former associates was passed to Moscow police and prosecutors. On March 2, apparently based only on his statement, the police inquiry into the Antonov shooting was reopened. By October, Mr Gorbuntsov, by then in exile in London, declared: “I have trump cards. According to my information, the law enforcement bodies are working actively on an investigation that will lead to a very high-profile criminal case.”

He claimed during the interview that he had lost control of assets equivalent to $2.5 billion (£1.6 million). In his statement to police, he claimed that Mr Chuvilin and Mr Mendeleyev had “together conceived and realised the attempted murder of Alexander Antonov”.

Mr Vedenin said: “That [testimony] is probably what provoked this shooting.” The lawyer said his client had been due to give another statement this week.

The claim is vehemently denied by Mr Chuvilin and Mr Mendeleyev, who have been widely named in the Russian media in relation to the case. Mr Chuvilin, who is said to be living outside Russia, told the Kommersant newspaper that he knew nothing about the shooting on the Isle of Dogs.

“I’m distant from all these criminal shoot-outs, because I now live a completely different life,” he was quoted as saying. A spokesman for Spartak ice hockey club, of which Mr Mendeleyev is a director, said: “If these accusations had any kind of foundation to them, he would be at the very least under house arrest.”

Mr Gorbuntsov made other powerful enemies. The Russian media has scrutinised a financial wrangle with Russian Railways, the state-controlled transport company whose president is Vladimir Yakunin, an ally of president-elect Vladimir Putin.

An estimated $660 million (£415 million) was not repaid after being deposited by Russian Railways into a Moscow bank whose ownership later passed to Capital Trading Bank, another institution controlled by Mr Gorbuntsov and his associates.

According to unconfirmed reports, Mr Yakunin was obliged to ask Mr Putin to intervene to retrieve the money. Mr Putin allegedly referred the matter to the FSB, the security and spy agency which he formerly headed.

In October, Mr Gorbuntsov denied he was responsible for Russian Railways’ difficulties.

“The money stolen from Russian Railways was taken by the same people who took my business away from me,” he said. “At a certain level they called themselves my partners. And up to a certain point I also had illusions about them. Then I realised I was just their latest project.”

As Mr Gorbuntsov remained critically ill on Saturady night, his wife had still not been allowed to visit him.

“Scotland Yard are not telling us anything,” complained his lawyer. “I’ve been in touch with the Russian Embassy in London and they also have no news.”

Mrs Gorbuntsova was desperately hoping that “her beloved” pulls through. His enemies will be less keen»

bahdada · Post by **bahdada** » 25 Mar 2012 10:04

Cosmo_R wrote:^^^Cold Wind From Russia:

Volodin makes sense until he says this: "....“India's stand on Syria betrays the same lack of strategic foresight as its recent decision to buy in a tender a 20th century fighter plane for 21st century tasks at a time when a fifth-generation platform that India is jointly developing with Russia is in the pipeline.”

He doesn't get the fact that the IAF's MiGs have to be replaced and fast. Obviously he would have sung a different tune if the MiG 35 had been selected.

Putin has this thing about the Indian diaspora in the US. Cmon' Russia doesn't want Indians and Russians don't either.

He also is on record as saying he can't believe that the Indians capitalized on the IT industry given that Russian talent was so much greater.

Putin's plan is a troika Russia/China/India with Russia of course, leading the poodle pack. He's right to feel threatened by the West but his vision betrays the racism inherent in the Russian worldview. The anti dark skin brigade in Moscow make the Brit skinhead movement look pale (no pun intended here:)).

The Chinese are not fools and they built the country on trade with the West and they are not going to get into a slanging match with their customers.

The real surprise for the Russians is the spine shown by the MEA and PMO in the face of a 'big brother' relationship that is way past the sell by date.

QFT. I could not have said it better. Our Ivan loving brigade here has no idea how the average Russian perceives an Indian.

member_19969 · Post by **member_19969** » 28 Mar 2012 10:52

Is a new kind of arms race brewing?

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 28 Mar 2012 15:20

bahdada wrote:QFT. I could not have said it better. Our Ivan loving brigade here has no idea how the average Russian perceives an Indian.

As a side note, the Russians atleast have enough senses to have a Russian consul here who is well aware of India. During recent controversy in Russia where a local Church went to court on a Hindu scripture Gita, the fellow actually praised the scripture on TV.

I am not sure if an average American or an average European would be better at all on a similar issue.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 29 Mar 2012 17:03

On the contrary,ordinary Russians have great affection for Indians,at least the middle-aged generation who enjoyed watching Raj kapoor films,etc. The Qs being asked about Indian decision-making these days by Russia is because they appear,as many Indians also wonder about,have shown us to be fellow travellers in a western direction.Our about turn on Iran,Lanka and Syria are bemusing our old friends and allies,who see the might of western influence at work.The BRICS summit at Delhi should see some movement to restoring the swing of the pendelim.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 04 Apr 2012 00:48

12 killed in Moscow market blaze

Twelve people died on Tuesday when a night time fire tore through a two-storey Moscow market warehouse that was being used by migrant workers from a former Soviet republic as a temporary residence.

“Twelve people died. They were migrant workers. We are trying to confirm which (ex-Soviet) republic they came from,” a Moscow emergencies ministry spokesman told AFP.

Unconfirmed news reports said the migrants came from the impoverished Central Asian nation of Tajikistan. Numerous Moscow markets employ cheap labourers from the region without giving them proper housing conditions or pay.

...

Emergency workers described squalid living conditions in which the workers slept on hard cots that were stacked on top of each other in rows of four without any direct access to the outside.

The workers “lived in a metal annex that was equipped with a space heater”, an unnamed law enforcement official told the Interfax news agency.

“They slept in frighteningly tight conditions, on hard bunk cots that were then stacked on top of each other,” he said.

Another official said the workers probably left the space heater on all night to stay warm during the frigid Moscow spring. Overnight temperatures plunged below freezing and much of central Russia has been hit by snow.

“The fire could have started from the electric space heater. It was probable left on all night because the structure was turned into living quarters,” an unnamed investigator told ITAR-TASS.

Police said they have opened a criminal investigation but have not yet pressed any charges against the market owners.

Russia's migration service estimates that there are 700 000 Tajiks living officially in the country - a tenth of their home country's population of just under seven million.

Tajikistan was wrecked by a brutal civil war in the early 1990s and then experienced nearly two decades of ethnic tensions and endemic drugs trafficking that hampered sustainable growth.

Its economy remains in tatters and some analysts estimate that up to half of Tajikistan's young male population is currently trying to make a living in Moscow and other major Russian cities.

The predominant majority of the migrants who arrive in Moscow do so without acquiring the official city worker permits that the Russian capital has required since Soviet times.

Their employment is therefore never officially reported to the authorities and many end up living in Moscow apartment block basements or makeshift residences.

Seven migrants were killed in January 2009 when a fire swept through an underground Moscow garage they were building and had also used as a temporary living shelter.

Another seven died in May 2011 when a fire engulfed an old abandoned building in central Moscow.

The presence of Central Asian nationals and workers from the predominantly Muslim Caucasus region has also stirred racial tensions in the Russian capital and resulted in repeated deadly attacks.

President-elect Vladimir Putin had vowed to reinforce migration controls while serving as prime minister for the past four years and won a strong following from Russian nationalists while heading the Kremlin in 2000-2008.

member_23061 · Post by **member_23061** » 04 Apr 2012 01:03

bahdada wrote:
Cosmo_R wrote:^^^Cold Wind From Russia:

Volodin makes sense until he says this: "....“India's stand on Syria betrays the same lack of strategic foresight as its recent decision to buy in a tender a 20th century fighter plane for 21st century tasks at a time when a fifth-generation platform that India is jointly developing with Russia is in the pipeline.”

He doesn't get the fact that the IAF's MiGs have to be replaced and fast. Obviously he would have sung a different tune if the MiG 35 had been selected.

Putin has this thing about the Indian diaspora in the US. Cmon' Russia doesn't want Indians and Russians don't either.

He also is on record as saying he can't believe that the Indians capitalized on the IT industry given that Russian talent was so much greater.

Putin's plan is a troika Russia/China/India with Russia of course, leading the poodle pack. He's right to feel threatened by the West but his vision betrays the racism inherent in the Russian worldview. The anti dark skin brigade in Moscow make the Brit skinhead movement look pale (no pun intended here:)).

The Chinese are not fools and they built the country on trade with the West and they are not going to get into a slanging match with their customers.

The real surprise for the Russians is the spine shown by the MEA and PMO in the face of a 'big brother' relationship that is way past the sell by date.
QFT. I could not have said it better. Our Ivan loving brigade here has no idea how the average Russian perceives an Indian.

Average Russian does not really know about India anymore other than that Indiskaya Diska song and Jungle Book and a sprinkling of Bollywood. Its a shame that Indian culture has vanished from the mainstream now, though there is still a number of Indophiles and practitioners of Indian dances.

While Russia leading the poodle pack is natural in Putin's mind, he is also a master of realpolitik. India can negotiate a good chunk of valuable deals if they play their cards right.

Roperia · Post by **Roperia** » 06 Apr 2012 23:41

Nice piece which chronologically describe our long standing partnership.

India-Russia Partnership at 65

Broadly, I classify the relations of India and Russia into three phases: Soviet phase; disintegration phase and initial years; and post-Soviet phase after Boris Yeltsin. Specifically, I classify the post-Soviet phase in relations into three categories: initial phases of turmoil; the compulsions of the Yeltsin period; and the resurgence of relations after 2000 when Putin took reins of power.
...

Roperia · Post by **Roperia** » 09 Apr 2012 09:35

Crosspost from IA thread

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 10 Apr 2012 03:17

An interesting aspect of possible global game - attempts at Siberian separatism.

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politic ... sia_usa-0/
Siberia to separate from Russia to become a part of USA
28.12.2011

Siberia to separate from Russia to become a part of USA. 46267.jpegThe idea to separate Siberia and annex the territory to the United States of America has been engrossing the minds of Siberian separatists for a long time already. Surprisingly, or maybe not, they find the support from across the ocean.

Many, if not all Siberians, may think at times that the Siberian regions with their natural riches live poorly just because they have to give away a big part of their incomes to other territories of the Russian Federation. It is not a very popular idea in Siberia, of course, but it may visit people's minds time and again. Some people even tried to put that idea into action: they decided to establish a political movement. The vain attempts did not lead to anything, but quantity may easily evolve into quality, especially if they find powerful forces of support.

A whole movement emerged during the recent population census in the Russian Federation. The movement promotes the idea to identify the nationality of those living in Siberia as the Siberians. A special group appeared on Facebook in the summer of the outgoing year. The members of the group believe that Siberia should become a part of the United States of America. The initiator of the strange movement, Vladimir Kiselyov, a 37-year-old resident of the city of Mezhdurechensk, believes that Siberia must get rid of the Moscow yoke. According to him, Siberia will not be able to become an independent state. The only way for the territory to prosper in the future is to become a part of the US.

"The referendum will be held with the help of the US administration. The US has successful experience in obtaining independence. After the referendum, Siberia will become a part of the territory of the United States, just like California and Alaska are, even though they were Russian colonies in the 19th century," Kiselyov said.

You may laugh at it, but the idea finds its followers in the US. US politician Zbigniew Brzezhinski, a well-known politician, put forward an idea during his speech at the Political Forum in Yaroslavl to create a new commonwealth from Vancouver to Vladivostok. The politician did not specify, from which end the movement was supposed to start, but judging upon Brzezhinski's views, one shall assume that he was interested in the shortest way possible. It appears that America approaches the goal responsibly and begins to train managers to administer the new territories.

The Irkutsk State University has recently held a seminar with the participation of fifth-year students of the US-Siberian Department for Management and "Regionalistic Alternative to Siberia" Public Movement. The future graduates of the US-Siberian Department of the University analyzed the pluses and minuses of the future of the Siberian state, as well as the risks for its creation and existence. First priority was paid to the economic grounds of the state of Siberia," the final report at the seminar said.

This is not a joke already. It goes about Russian specialists, the future elite of the Russian society, although this society is not actually Russian. It is also very alarming that such seminars are held at a higher educational institution, whose administration does not seem to care much about the propaganda of separatist ideas among its students.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 13 Apr 2012 23:16

The Next 65 years: What India can learn from Russia

Deans · Post by **Deans** » 16 Apr 2012 23:03

brihaspati wrote:An interesting aspect of possible global game - attempts at Siberian separatism.

Siberia to separate from Russia to become a part of USA
28.12.2011

Siberia to separate from Russia to become a part of USA. 46267.jpegThe idea to separate Siberia and annex the territory to the United States of America has been engrossing the minds of Siberian separatists for a long time already. Surprisingly, or maybe not, they find the support from across the ocean.

A bigger danger to Siberia & Russia is the Chinese influx into the whole region. The region represents a huge amount of `living space'
for the Chinese as well as a source of raw materials.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 18 Apr 2012 08:44

Exxon Gains Access To Massive Arctic Reserves With Russian Pact
Forbes - ‎5 hours ago‎
Exxon Mobil and its Russian Partner Rosneft signed a deal that would allow the American oil major wider access to Russia's massive oil fields in return for a minority stake in some of Exxon's projects in North America.

kuldipchager · Post by **kuldipchager** » 18 Apr 2012 09:21

-------

Deans · Post by **Deans** » 19 Apr 2012 18:38

Acharya wrote:Exxon Gains Access To Massive Arctic Reserves With Russian Pact
Forbes - ‎5 hours ago‎
Exxon Mobil and its Russian Partner Rosneft signed a deal that would allow the American oil major wider access to Russia's massive oil fields in return for a minority stake in some of Exxon's projects in North America.

I believe Rosneft was calling the shots on this one.
Exxon stepped into this deal after BP's talks with Rosneft collapsed.
Exxon actually gets a third share of revenues from these new fields (correspondingly Rosneft gets a third share in US fields). These are fields in Russia's extreme North, where Russian companies have generally lacked the technology to extract oil as efifciently
as their Western counterparts. Tech transfer was part of the deal.
The market cap of both companies rose by approx $ 7 Billion after the announcement.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 21 Apr 2012 23:23

From Russian Press on Agni-5 test

The Friendly Indian Intercontinental Missile