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The Prophetic Messenger -January/February 2015 - Is Russia Rebuilding The Former Soviet Union? - Part II

The Prophetic Messenger


A Newsletter From Mysteries From The Word Of God Ministries
January/February 2015 - Volume 17/Issue 1

Is Russia Rebuilding The Former Soviet Union? - Part II

If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. Ezekiel 33:3-4

In this issue of The Prophetic Messenger, we will continue a message titled “Is Russia Rebuilding The Former Soviet Union?”

1. Russia is Rebuilding its Military

In the November/December 2014 issue of the Prophetic Messenger newsletter, we discussed Putin’s goal of rebuilding the Russian military. In an article titled “Before Ukraine, Putin Modernized the Russian Military”(Note 1) it says

“Russia’s success in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine is the consequence of a sustained Russian effort to modernize and rebuild its ravaged post-Cold War military, an investment aggressively promoted by President Vladimir Putin. Russian forces, although described by Russian spokesmen as volunteers and separatists, have been seen in recent months operating with advanced night vision goggles, high-tech weapons, and state of the art communications gear that are the new standard for the Russian military and the equal of any Western military. They also have been supported by heavy Russian equipment and armaments including tanks. Russian tactics were honed last year during a biannual Russian military exercise called ‘Zapad-13,’ which involved many of the same troops later to invade Ukraine. Some 70,000 Russian and Belarus troops simulated ground force combat operations of the same type used this summer against Ukrainian forces near Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. The Zapad-13 exercise also focused on cyberwarfare tactics, which have been effectively used to disrupt the communications of Ukrainian forces in recent months. The military has been flexing its muscle in other ways as well. Russian advisers and armaments support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russian bombers patrol off of the Alaskan coast. Russian strategic forces—albeit limited in number by arms control agreements—are in the process of rapidly modernizing. These are the most visible signs of a military that has transformed itself into a capable fighting force. According to Globalfirepower.com, a website that ranks the relative strengths of national military forces, Russia’s military ranks only behind the U.S. military, and ahead of China’s, in overall capabilities. The Russian military has ascended to a powerful position in a relatively short period. During the 1990s the Russian military, long a source of national pride, withered due to lack of funding. After the humiliating 1989 retreat from Afghanistan, the Russian military struggled through the 1990s to subdue separatist rebels in Chechnya. In contrast, the U.S. military easily routed the Iraqi army in the first Gulf War in 1991, demonstrating to the world the importance of high technology, speed, and overwhelming firepower. For Putin, who first ascended to the Russian presidency in 2000, the lessons of the 1990s were obvious. Russia could not compete politically if it could not back its policies with an effective military. The Russian military’s uninspiring performance during the 2008 invasion of Georgia, Russia’s small and militarily-inferior neighbor, provided further impetus for military investment. In late 2008 and early 2009 major reforms were put in place, including structural reforms that streamlined the military’s structure and leadership ranks. During his 2012 campaign to return to the presidency after a four-year hiatus in which Dmitry Medvedev served in that position, Putin promised to return the military to a place of pride and prominence within Russia.”

In another article titled “Ukraine crisis: Russia tests new weapons”(Note 2) it says

“Eastern Ukraine has become a testing ground for Russia's new military capabilities. When Russia last went to war, in Georgia in 2008, it looked like an easy victory. But Russia's generals were deeply concerned at how badly their forces performed in some key areas of modern warfare. Russia has spent the seven years since then rearming, re-equipping, and retraining, in order to deal with those deficiencies, and to try to close the capability gap with modern Western armies. Now the results can be seen in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have gained ground against Ukrainian government troops. Ukrainian forces are short of secure communications systems. The result is that their communications are both subject to jamming, and often also show their location to Russian direction-finding equipment. This can lead to being swiftly targeted by Russian artillery, including Grad and other, more powerful, rocket systems. As part of the non-lethal aid provided by the US, Ukraine has received special radar to try to pinpoint the source of incoming mortar fire. But their use is limited by the difficulty in communicating the results to other forces. And, for the time being, Ukraine has not received the more sophisticated systems that would pinpoint the source of fire from longer-range artillery systems.”

2. Russia’s New Doctrine Names NATO as Top Threat

President Putin signed a new military doctrine naming NATO as the top threat. In an article titled “Putin Signs New Military Doctrine Naming NATO As Top Threat”(Note 3) it says

“President Vladimir Putin has signed a new military doctrine that describes NATO's military buildup near the Russian borders as the top military threat amid Russia-West tensions over Ukraine. The document released by the Kremlin on Friday maintains the provisions of the previous, 2010 edition of the military doctrine regarding the use of nuclear weapons. It says Russia could use nuclear weapons in retaliation to the use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies, and also in case of aggression involving conventional weapons that "threatens the very existence" of the Russian state. For the first time, the new doctrine says that Russia could use precision weapons "as part of strategic deterrent measures." The document doesn't spell out conditions for their use.”

In another article titled “Russia Launches Black Sea Naval Buildup”(Note 4) it says

“NOVOROSSIYSK Russia (Reuters) – Russia will increase its Black Sea fleet with more than 80 new warships by 2020 and will complete a second naval base for the fleet near the city of Novorossiysk by 2016, its commander said on Tuesday. In comments made to President Vladimir Putin as he visited the port city, Vice Admiral Alexander Vitko said a second Black Sea base was needed in addition to the main base on the Crimea peninsula annexed from Ukraine because of NATO expansion. ‘Eighty ships and other vessels are expected to arrive (in Novorossiysk) before 2020. The Black Sea Fleet will have 206 ships and vessels by 2020,’ Vitko told Putin. ‘NATO ships are constantly present in the Black Sea and it plans to establish a naval base in the Black Sea,’ he added. NATO has regularly conducted naval exercises in the Black Sea, especially since Russia annexed Crimea, populated mainly by ethnic Russians, in March partly from fear that Ukraine’s new pro-Western authorities might try to join the Atlantic alliance. A NATO official told Reuters in Brussels there were no alliance plans to build a Black Sea base but said it already had access to the resources of member states in the region.”

In closing, when NATO expanded in 2004, it added three members - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These nations were part of the former Soviet Union. Russia’s new military doctrine and military buildup show that Russia is trying to rebuild the former Soviet Union.
Notes:
Note 1:http://freebeacon.com/national-security/before-ukraine-putin-modernized-the-russian-military/
Note 2:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31146595
Note 3: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/12/26/putin-signs-new-military-doctrine-naming-nato-as-top-threat/
Note 4:http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-launches-black-sea-naval-buildup/

Coming Up In The Next Issue

Is Russia Rebuilding The Former Soviet Union?- Part III. Read this article in the next issue of The Prophetic Messenger.

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