"Comes the Dawn".... will Vlad(the inhaler) rise from the dead?

Or merely reappear after taking care of some indelicate 'family' business?

Stay tuned, developments to come.....

:))

;D .g

---

"Sour Grapes make a bitter Whine." <(0)>

I agree with what you have stated. But Id like to add also that the Russian soldier is one tough indivual. He can take abuse from his own country that would have other armies in mutiny. He is capable of enduring hardships, malnutrion, and being used as cannon fodder to defeat the enemy at all costs.
The eguipent they have to use is often describe as simple. It is, It is desinged to be simple to use and robust.
Now im not saying that I overestimate them and give them powers they dont have. But if they are well lead those tough S.O.B.'s can be a problem for those who they attack.

Hmm yes and no. No doubt that Russian soldiers are tough, but continuous mistreatment from their officers will reduce their effectiveness in combat. Which leads to higher casualties, which result in bad morale which affects combat performance.

Toughness of character is great but it doesn't measure up against being well trained, well equipped and well fed.

And dont forget they have a huge population they can use as expendables. They did so in WW2.

No they don't. There are less than 150 million Russians and that number is declining hard. Alcoholism and migration to countries that don't suck as much has taken a heavy toll on the Russian population. In terms of amount of soldiers they have left, they can only call on about somewhere between 400-500 thousand troops at best, and a good deal of those will be conscripts. They really can't afford to waste manpower like they did in WW2.

You are correct on the population Of Russia. I was still thinking of the total population of the old Soviet Union. Sorry for my oversight.

---

[/quote]

Old James

You are correct on the population Of Russia. I was still thinking of the total population of the old Soviet Union. Sorry for my oversight.

Eh, I think its a myth the Russians are all to happy to keep intact for as long as possible. I mean if you look more imposing in the mind of your opponent, you have a better chance at avoiding any unpleasantness right?

Why would anyone notice that? We were talking about the countries that make up Scandinavia, the Balkans, and the Baltic Region, or the North as you prefer to call it.

All you have done is highlighted a fraternal order akin to Masonry for Swedes living in North America. I'm not quite sure why you felt that was helpful. I may have made 34,000 posts over nearly 15 years that is a matter of record, and the quality of those posts are down to individual opinion. But at least I try not to post 3 or 4 in a row which is considered bad netiquette.

Vasa

Masonry:)
Come to ScanFest! It’s an all-day celebration of Scandinavia at its best – where you’ll discover the customs…the history…the ethnic variety of the six Nordic nations: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
Visitors and vendors, alike, are invited to catch a Scandinavian moment—to enjoy our return to the refreshing outdoors at the 31th annual festival in rustic Vasa Park.
http://www.scanfest.org/

The Balkans are still here.
https://www.google.se/maps/place/Grekland/@41.9452911,20.9648127,7z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x135b4ac711716c63:0x363a1775dc9a2d1d
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans
Or have I missed something?

Scandinavia is a region in northern Europe that geographically covers the Scandinavian Peninsula with the states Norway and Sweden.
We all call our 6 countries for Norden.

Netiquette states that you keep on topic. Right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquette_in_technology

[topic on]
Russia is also a neighbour to Finland, Estonia, Norway and Sweden.

Putin was preparing for the "worst performance" when Russia last year took the Crimea and the West began to punish Russia with sanctions. Therefore he considered putting nuclear weapons on alert, says Putin in a documentary that aired on Sunday evening.
- I spoke with my colleagues and said, "Honestly, historically speaking, this is our territory and Russian people live there. They are in danger and we can not abandon them, "he says in the documentary film "Crimea - Road to the fatherland" that state controlled Rossiya 1 sent on Sunday evening.
http://russia.tv/video/show/brand_id/59195/episode_id/1180834

The Russian Northern Fleet and paratroopers have been put on high alert as part of a military exercise in the Arctic. Defense Minister Sergei Sjojgu says to news agency Ria that Russia is facing new threats, forcing the country to increase its military strength and capacity.
- Special attention must be paid to strategic formations in the north, said Shoigu.
Nearly 40,000 troops, 41 warships and 15 submarines participating in the exercise.

http://rt.com/in-motion/218967-military-snowman-eastern-ukraine/
Kadyrov, FSB at War After Nemtsov Death
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/kadyrov-fsb-at-war-after-nemtsov-death/517426.html[/url]

Earlier, Mr Putin ordered Russia's navy on to a state of full combat readiness in the Arctic. Russia says the navy drills involve 56 warships, planes and 38,000 personnel. Russia's Arctic military drills come amid heightened tensions with Nato over Russia's military involvement in eastern Ukraine, where an uneasy truce is in place between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops.

Nato has sent extra forces to the three Baltic states, which have large Russian minorities and were ruled from Moscow in the Cold War.

BBC[/quote]

Further in the BBC article it states "What is known is that on this the day of his return to the limelight, he has ordered the northern fleet of the Russian navy to conduct a massive combat readiness exercise. This comes as the US continues to deliver military equipment to the Baltic states and Poland, and while Nato navy exercises continue in the Black Sea. So it's straight back to business as usual."

So obviously he is using the NATO exercises as excuse for the Military build up. No one has opposed him yet and some speculate the last 11 days were spent shuffling military brass who were "less than supportive" of Putin's policies.

He is walking an economic tightrope with oil, Russia's only revenue source, now worth less than half what it was 6 months ago. He has promised the pensioners increases in payments. He has promised the Oligarchs larger subsidies. And he has promised the military expensive new weapons systems, all based on an economic projection made when oil was double the price.

What to cut?

---

"Sour Grapes make a bitter Whine." <(0)>

He has promised the pensioners increases in payments. He has promised the Oligarchs larger subsidies. And he has promised the military expensive new weapons systems, all based on an economic projection made when oil was double the price.
What to cut?

If current prices around $ 50 per barrel will stay during the year, the Russian state budget are losing the equivalent $ 48 billion, said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at a public appearance in January.
That comes as a consequence, to propose to the Parliament that all budget areas will have to cut down their expenses by ten percent, except for "protected" activities such as "defense".

I hope everybody knows that the average Russian is poorer than an average Indie.

No they don't. There are less than 150 million Russians and that number is declining hard. Alcoholism and migration to countries that don't suck as much has taken a heavy toll on the Russian population. In terms of amount of soldiers they have left, they can only call on about somewhere between 400-500 thousand troops at best, and a good deal of those will be conscripts. They really can't afford to waste manpower like they did in WW2.

You are wrong twice.
1. "That number" is not declining but increasing at last years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Population_of_Russia.PNG
2. You are wrong about the "waste manpower like they did in WW2". If to summarize all losses of the Axis armies in battles on the Eastern front and compare it with the USSR army losses in the battles, it will be a ratio something about 1.5:1 only. Also, it was a very big losses of the Soviet civilians and POWs, yes, but when the Germans and their allies killed Soviet civilians and POWs, it was absolutely not the Russians "afford to waste manpower", it was the war crimes from the Axis side.

The Viking Valdemar, who secured his throne in Kiev with fighters from Scandinavia, will get a statue in Moscow:)

LOL. Is it a joke? Vladimir the Great was not "Valdemar". He died in the beginning of the 11th century. The Valdemar name is a Germanised version of Slavonic name Vladimir. It was introduced into Scandinavia by the 12th-century Danish king Valdemar I, who was the grandson of the Vladimir Monomakh of Kiev. And Vladimir Monomakh was son of the grandson of the Vladimir the Great.

Russia’s Remarkable Renaissance
-------------------------------------
Something remarkable is taking place in Russia, and it’s quite different from what we might expect. Rather than feel humiliated and depressed Russia is undergoing what I would call a kind of renaissance, a rebirth as a nation. This despite or in fact because the West, led by the so-called neo-conservatives in Washington, is trying everything including war on her doorstep in Ukraine, to collapse the Russian economy, humiliate Putin and paint Russians generally as bad. In the process, Russia is discovering positive attributes about her culture, her people, her land that had long been forgotten or suppressed.
-------------------------------------
http://journal-neo.org/2015/03/09/russia-s-remarkable-renaissance-2/

The Viking Valdemar, who secured his throne in Kiev with fighters from Scandinavia, will get a statue in Moscow:)

LOL. Is it a joke? Vladimir the Great was not "Valdemar". He died in the beginning of the 11th century. The Valdemar name is a Germanised version of Slavonic name Vladimir. It was introduced into Scandinavia by the 12th-century Danish king Valdemar I, who was the grandson of the Vladimir Monomakh of Kiev. And Vladimir Monomakh was son of the grandson of the Vladimir the Great.

Nonsense. Valdamarr Sveinaldsson is a typical viking name.
It means Valdamarr son of Sveinald!
Could by used even today as Valdemar Sveinaldsson or perhaps Sveneldsson.
Have you been to Iceland?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sveneld

Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great (Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь, Old Norse as Valdamarr Sveinaldsson, Russian: Влади́мир, Vladimir, Ukrainian: Володимир, Volodymyr, Belarusian: Уладзiмiр, Uladzimir; c. 958 – 15 July 1015, Berestove) was a prince of Novgorod, grand prince of Kiev, and ruler of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1015.

Vladimir's father was prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty. After the death of his father in 972, Vladimir, who was then prince of Novgorod, was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 976 after his brother Yaropolk had murdered his other brother Oleg and conquered Rus'. In Sweden, with the help from his relative Jarl HÃ¥kon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, he assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk. By 980 Vladimir had consolidated the Kievan realm from modern-day Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and had solidified the frontiers against incursions of Bulgarian, Baltic, and Eastern nomads. Originally a follower of Slavic paganism, Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988 and Christianized the Kievan Rus'.

Valdemar Old Norse as Valdamarr is a name used by the Vikings long before Russia existed! And still used.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great

Realize that Sweden and Russia has a far longer history with each others, about 1,100 years, then Khazakstan has.

But by themselves they can't win wars and this has been demonstrated over and over again throughout Russian military history, both before and after the fall of the Soviet Union. Just look at Afghanistan and Chechnya.

LOL. The Soviet army didn't suffer defeat in Afghanistan. Withdrawal of troops was the political decision. Pro-Soviet government sat in Kabul for 3 years after that.
Also, can I say the Americans can't win wars by themselves? Just look at Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. ;)

Valdemar Old Norse as Valdamarr is a name used by the Vikings long before Russia existed!

Nonsense. Valdemar name is a Germanised version of Slavonic name Vladimir.

I'm sure that Josef Stalin would be proud of that! In the mean-time, the populace will bear the brunt of any form of attack - both, internal and external! The Russian economy does not need 'Washington' to collapse it - when it seems to be so reliant on crime at the highest levels of it's government and, lets not forget, falling oil prices. What I will never understand, is why this country and many others seem to allow such 'easy passage' to virtually any Russian citizen, to do as they please, whilst these same people do not afford those same privileges to the masses. After all, even your suppressed masses must have a voice, even if they are afraid to use it.

Amongst the people I know (face to face), one friend is a former Red Army Officer trainer and he has nothing nice to say about Putin, nor the way the criminals were allowed to screw everything! Anyone who has been involved with 'Soviet observation', knows that the only way to become wealthy in the old USSR, was by being a crook. Say what you will, but nothing has changed.

---

Don't take life too seriously, as you'll never come out of it alive!

Valdemar Old Norse as Valdamarr is a name used by the Vikings long before Russia existed!

Nonsense. Valdemar name is a Germanised version of Slavonic name Vladimir.

Germanised? What is that? Germany didn't exist back then.
Vikings had very few contacts with the Germanic people in today Germany.
However the Vikings travelled back and forth to Konstantinopel on the river river Dnepr and had merchant stations in Kiev.
Why didnt the fantastic Slavones did that?
No. They didn't know how to do it.
That's why the Vikings were invited to become ruler of Russia to bring order in the wasteland.

Realize that Sweden and Russia has a far longer history with each others, about 1,100 years, then Khazakstan has.

LOL. Kazakhstan's historians love to mention that their ancestors are more ancient, they love to mention the Turkic Khaganate and even more ancient Scythians. Also some of they declares the Russia is only the successor of the Golden Horde, unlike the Kazakhstan, because Kazakhstan is not only the Golden Horde successor but much more ancient. Well, the young country actively create her own internal historical mythology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_Khaganate

In the mean-time, the populace will bear the brunt of any form of attack - both, internal and external! The Russian economy does not need 'Washington' to collapse it - when it seems to be so reliant on crime at the highest levels of it's government and, lets not forget, falling oil prices. What I will never understand, is why this country and many others seem to allow such 'easy passage' to virtually any Russian citizen, to do as they please, whilst these same people do not afford those same privileges to the masses. After all, even your suppressed masses must have a voice, even if they are afraid to use it.

They are very afraid to oppose to the Kremlin.
Boris Nemtsov did. What happened?
Novaya Gazette, one of the few independent media, had 6 journalist how did it. They all was murdered.
In Russia today it's a chrime to oppose the government.
The call them "Predatel", traitors, that are exposed on the Internet.
Boris Nemtsov is on one this lists.
https://translate.google.se/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpredatel.net%2F&edit-text=
Post-Stalin Russia seems better than whats going on right know!

Realize that Sweden and Russia has a far longer history with each others, about 1,100 years, then Khazakstan has.

LOL. Kazakhstan's historians love to mention that their ancestors are more ancient, they love to mention the Turkic Khaganate and even more ancient Scythians. Also some of they declares the Russia is the successor of the Golden Horde, like the Kazakhstan also. Young country actively create her own internal historical mythology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_Khaganate

And where is Russia in your history?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_Khaganate

And where is Russia in your history?

Sorry, I am not the Kazakhstan historian and it's absolutely not the theme thread.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_Khaganate

And where is Russia in your history?

Sorry, I am not the Kazakhstan historian and it's absolutely not the theme thread.

Of course not. The only relation and history between Russia and Khazakstan is when Khazakstan become a satellite state to Soviet Union.
Today it's called a buffer state:)

Valdemar Old Norse as Valdamarr is a name used by the Vikings long before Russia existed!

Nonsense. Valdemar name is a Germanised version of Slavonic name Vladimir.

Germanised? What is that? Germany didn't exist back then.

LOL. You are ignorant sometimes. You can read this for example - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages