Potentially specious article about Russian ship movement

I'm breaking protocol here. Being unable to properly address the article, I've decided to post it here. I have contacted the webmaster, and depending on the outcome, the article will stay, or not stay. We respect copyrights, and never post anything that we haven't gotten permission to. Thank you!!

RUSSIA: Warships Head for the Persian Gulf

Please note: This article appears in reverse chronological order

March 1, 2003: Two destroyers and a supply ship are on their way from Vladivostok to the Persian Gulf.

February 28, 2003: A Russian Mi-8 multi-mission helicopter came under fire from a large caliber machinegun on the night of the 27th, during a mission to evacuate troops from a hostile area. The helicopter was seriously damaged in a bad weather landing on a wooded mountainside. The three crew members and 16 servicemen aboard survived. All were evacuated from the landing area. - Adam Geibel

February 27, 2003: Low pay and a rising cost have living has left 56 percent of the officers in the armed forces living below the poverty line (an income of 59 dollars a month or less.)

February 24, 2003: With 80,000 troops and police and troops in Chechnya, the government is under fire over what the real casualty count has been. The government says 4,700 have died there in the last year, press reports say that's how many died just in 2002. Non-government groups say that 11,000 Russian troops have died in Chechnya since 1999.

February 20, 2003: A soldier in the missile forces, stationed in Siberia, shot four other soldiers to death and then committed suicide. Some 800 soldiers have died like this in the last year, with troops using loaded weapons, carried while on guard duty or training, to settle disputes or grudges with other soldiers. In addition, some 1200 soldiers are killed each year because of the custom of older soldiers abusing new conscripts (a custom the army has been trying to eliminate for some time.)

February 19, 2003: In Bolshoi Kamen, on the Pacific coast, a facility for dismantling decommissioned nuclear subs has been officially opened. Many foreign nations, especially Japan, funded the project. The main function of the facility is to safely remove radioactive components from the old subs.

February 17, 2003: Trying to capitalize on it's extensive experience selling military aircraft to India, Russia is trying to beat out Boeing and Airbus to sell civilian aircraft to Air India. Russia's civil aviation industry has lost most of it's captive markets with the end of the Cold War. But even before 1991, Russia was able to sell some of its cheaper and more robust (if less elegant) transports to Third World nations. This time around, Russia is offering it's IL-96-300, at a price about 30 percent less than the Boeing and Airbus offerings.

February 16, 2003: Fighting in Chechnya over the weekend revealed that four of the rebels killed were Turks. Military intelligence has reported that about 20 Turkish Islamic radicals are fighting with the Chechen rebels, in addition to a number of Arabs.

Chechen rebels are split on the policy of attacking Chechen policemen (working for the pro-Russian provincial government.)

February 15, 2003: Nine Russian soldiers were killed in Chechnya. The government refused to negotiate with the current rebel leadership, and is looking for other rebel leaders who would be more reliable (and capable of dealing with dissident groups.) The Chechen rebels belong to several different groups, which do not get along all that well with each other.

February 11, 2003: In 42 months of fighting in Chechnya, some 3,000 civilians have disappeared. The government blames the rebels, and the rebels blame the army. Both are probably correct.

February 10, 2003: Rebel violence in Chechnya left six dead.

February 10, 2003: The Chechen resistance movement's media organizations reported that a reconnaissance and sabotage brigade led by rebel commander Abdullah Shamil "Basayev" was responsible for the truck-bombing of a Grozny government building on 27 December 2003. Basayev said that a Kamaz truck carried 4 tons of TNT and a UAZ jeep 600 kg of TNT. The Kamaz was driven by the father of two children; the 15-year-old daughter sat together with her father and his 17-year-old son drove the UAZ. The mother of the family had been killed during bombing and pro-Moscow Chechen forces had recently killed the elder son. Basayev has also claimed responsibility for organizing and carrying out the recent Moscow theater siege.

Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov said that he had arranged for peace talks to begin. The government has has previously refused to deal with Maskhadov, who was the leader of Chechnya in 1999 when the Russians invaded.

In Chechnya, rebel actions left three policemen and three rebels dead.

February 8, 2003: Russian weapons sales reached $4.7 billion in 2002, but this activity is expected to decline in a few years if the defense industry doesn't invest in more research and development. Most of the current export sales are to China and India. Both of these customers, especially China, are mainly buying Russian technology, and Russia isn't producing much new military technology.

February 7, 2003: In Chechnya, rebel actions left ten policemen and three soldiers dead.

February 4, 2003: Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has been using a portable television transmitter, with a range of about 25 kilometers, to broadcast videos calling for continued resistance to Russian rule. The technique was used twice today, and the rebels said they had three portable transmitters. The Russians can locate such transmitters if they stay on the air too long, so only short messages can be shown.

February 3, 2003: Chechen police have begun night patrols in many areas. For years, the pro-Russian police force withdrew to its bases at night, surrendering the province to the rebels until daylight. Rebel violence left six Russians and three rebels dead.

January 29, 2003: In Chechnya, three Russian soldiers died when their vehicle ran over a rebel land mine.

January 22, 2003: After one month of operation, Russia's first full time chemical weapons destruction plant has destroyed 60 tons of mustard gas.

There you have it, a months worth of potentially valid Russian military activity. Once I get word back from the webmaster, I may know more about the validity of this series of reports.

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