Russian nuclear specialists will leave for Japan Monday to help study the situation of Japan’s nuclear power stations after the devastating earthquake. Experts from Russian Atomic Energy Agency and the Institute for Safe Development of Nuclear Power Industry of the Russian Academy of Sciences will go to Japan, Rafael Arutyunyan, a representative of the industry told reporters here. The Russian... 

Vladimir Zhirinovsky Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the colorful and flamboyant leader of Russia’s LDPR party, has called on Japanese to leave “the dangerous islands” and move to the unpopulated Russian territories, the newsru.com website reported on Sunday. Zhirinovsky, 64, also deputy speaker of the lower house, offered Russian government to start talks with Japan over Japanese nationals’... 

“Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it; he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger.” Francis Quarles (1592-1644) A grim top-secret report prepared by Moscow’s Institute of Physics of the Earth for Prime Minister Putin on the catastrophic 9.0 magnitude Sendai Megaquake and Tsunami that hit Japan on March 11th is now warning that the “balance of our planet” has been altered... 

More than 10,000 people in parts of eastern Russia were evacuated Friday amid fears of a tsunami hitting the region after the massive earthquake in northern Japan, Russian media reported Friday, citing national emergency services. Evacuation efforts focused on the island of Sakhalin and the island group of South Kurils, with a special focus on the Kuril islands of Kunashir and Shikotan. Residents... 

Chechen terrorist leader Doku Umarov has called on Russian Muslims to launch a holy war against their government in a video published Friday on the website kavkazcenter.com. ‘Destroy the enemies of Allah, open up the fronts,’ Umarov said. The terrorist claimed responsibility on the same website for the January bombing of a Moscow airport in which 38 people died. The Kremlin had declared... 

Relations: Mr Lavrov visited Downing Street earlier this month during which time it is likely that the Middle East unrest would have been discussed. Russia’s top diplomat has today dismissed plans to create a no-fly zone over Libya as embattled leader Moammar Gaddafi unleashed bombing raids, special forces and army troops in a desperate bid to retain power. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov... 

The graying bear is getting a make-over. Russia’s military is launching its biggest rearmament effort since Soviet times, including a $650 billion program to procure 1,000 new helicopters, 600 combat planes, 100 warships, and 8 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. Analysts say Russia, while already the world’s fifth-largest military spender, needs strong conventional forces to... 

A chilling report prepared for President Medvedev by Minister Serdyukov of the Russian Defense Ministry on the building of an additional 5,000 underground ‘bomb’ shelters in Moscow warns that even though progress is being made, the appearance of the new Comet Elenin [photo right] in our Solar System means “additional resources” will have to be added “immediately” as the 2012 timeline for... 

The improvement in relations between Russia and Ukraine will soon result in joint military drills in a variety of formats, officials said Sunday. Relations between the two countries have improved significantly since Viktor Yanukovych was elected president last year, RIA Novosti reported. “The Russian side is prepared to hold drills with Ukraine not only at sea but also in the air and on the... 

During a security meeting in the Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev predicted decades of instability and strife if protesters he deemed fanatics come to power in the Middle East and North Africa. “These states are difficult, and it is quite probable that hard times are ahead, including the arrival at power of fanatics. This will mean fires for decades and the spread... 

A new word is launched in Russia: a Marsonaut. The six members of the simulation programme for a visit to Mars have started the third phase of the experiment, namely a Mars landing followed by the first Mars walk. The Russian flag now flies firmly and proudly on the Red Planet! Work is under way in Russia in the first active tests in the simulation phase of the manned space flight to Mars. The multinational... 

Japan’s foreign minister said Thursday that Tokyo’s claim over the disputed Kuril islands remains “absolutely unwavering” despite Russia’s decision to boost its military presence on the territory. Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who is due to visit Moscow from Friday, said Russia’s occupation of the islands is illegal and shrugged off President Dmitry Medvedev’s... 

Emotions are running high in the dispute over the Kuril Islands. Russia and Japan have been divided over ownership of the islands since the 1950s, but this had long since ceased to be a hot-button issue. How can we explain the unexpected surge in interest in this largely dormant territorial dispute? The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 renewed hope that the dispute with Japan would be settled.... 

Russian Islamist leader Doku Umarov has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on Moscow’s Domodedovo airport last month which killed 36 people. Mr Umarov heads the Caucasus Emirate, a shadowy terrorist group that dreams of creating an Islamic state in Russia’s north Caucasus region and operates mainly in the wild backcountry of Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia. Speaking in a video... 

The crewmembers will soon step out on a simulated Martian surface. The crew of the Mars500 simulated mission to the Red Planet have reached a key milestone. The six men, sealed since June inside steel containers representing a spacecraft, have “gone into orbit” at their destination. Three of the group will now “descend” to the planet, don real spacesuits and walk on the “surface”...