Summary of Russians intercepting SR-71's

All the billions of taxpayer dollars that we sank into SR-71, only to operate it as a high-speed party crasher (ref. having it fly over dictators' palaces and parades). The Soviets, of course, knew it was coming hours in advance, without any need to have a spy in place either in USAF command or as a landscaping contractor near its air base.
Here is a rough translation of an email from a Russian communication intelligence specialist recalling the ease of detecting the SR-71. What a crude use of such a fine machinery!

"As far as the SR-71 in transit, I have none [i.e., data of my own - blog], however, several of them are over Barents Sea, for example, as Blimey 99, at 17:16 according to the the time marker. Opus 38, at 26:08, communicates through Gold 23 (KC-135), Croughton [RAF base - blog] does not hear, but we in Kaluga  - 5 AUs. One of the best ways to ID them is their mentioning of the real time GMT:
Op's normal at 34while RC-135, TR-1 и U-2 communicate in the 4-digit format: 0834.
[Other telltale signs] are of course, the pilot's voice, stifled by the high altitude pressure suit, the typical background noise of the radio, the Barents triangulation, then Baltics, and the KC-135Q modified for high altitude refueling, loitering along its [SR-71] route.
It always felt pleasantly reassuring to know that it was escorted by Mig-25, so it would never get lost or get bored.
[SR-71] always presented real danger, since in an hour that it spends over Barents Sea, it always detected all of our mobile SA launchers and could have directed a strike against them. We did not have the mobile launchers like the S-300, so we had to redeploy to other sites, and that was hours of hard work. That is why the main countermeasure against it was to guess its ETA, to turn off all the mobile systems, and leave only the fixed sites. Then the Dumb Yanks would come the next day, a different aircraft, and there were two of them at Mildenhall in England.
After the flight, this machine was not so reliable. Its speed up to 3200 and the latitude 25000 [was something]. One time it experienced a malfunction upon exiting Barents area, barely limped to Norway, the the HC-130 rescue was deployed, the helicopters. A week after it flew over to England, and ion another 2 weeks back home to Edwards [AFB], Nevada, all the while, by an unusual track - the way of SR only - not over the Atlantic, but over the [North] Pole and Canada, the way he reported through radio comm.
Let me know if anything not clear here, I will explain, just let me know the call sign and time of comm. Even though it has been 21 years, I still remember almost all."

Что касается SR-71-на перелёте нету, а так несколько штук в Баренцевом море есть, например Blimy 99, 17:16 по таймеру записи, Opus 38, 26:08, работает через Gold 23 (KC-135), его Croughton не слышит, а у нас в Калуге 5 баллов. Отличительным разведпризнаком SR-71 является упоминание текущего время Гринвича только в минутах текущего часа, т.е. Op's normal at 34, тогда как RC-135, TR-1 и U-2 в 4-х значном формате, 0834, 8 часов 34 мин. Ну и конечно сдавленный голос в высотном костюме, характерный фон радиостанции, пеленг Баренцево, потом Балтика, болтающиеся KC-135Q по его маршруту-модификация танкеров, сделанных для его заправки на большей высоте. И приятное осознание того, что летит он в компании двух МиГ-25, чтобы нескучно было и не заблудился. Он представлял реальную опасность, за 1 час нахождения в Баренцевом море вычислял все наши мобильные комплексы ПВО и мог навести на них удар. Мобилок, как С-300 тогда не было ,по-этому приходилось свёртываться и перебазироваться, а это несколько часов нелёгкой работы. По-этому в борьбе с ним главное было угадать когда прилетит ,мобильные комплексы выключались, оставались только стационарные. Тогда пиндосы прилетали на следующий день, на другом, их два в Mildenholl'е в Англии было. После полёта ТО на пару дней, машина не очень надёжная. Зато скорость до 3200 и высота 25000. Один раз сломался при выходе из Баренцево, еле допукал до Норвегии, HC-130 спасательные поднимали, вертушки. Потом через неделю перелетел в Англию, а ещё через 2 недели улетел домой в Эдвардс, Невада, причём по необычному маршруту, так летел только SR-не через Атлантику, а через полюс и Канаду., где и отмечался на связи. Кому что непонятно, спросите, укажите время записи и позывной, подскажу, всего-то 21 год прошёл, почти всё помню.

Putin The Fair-Haired Poster Boy and The American Psyche

Half the world hates him. It is easy to hate him. But as the saying goes, too much contempt brings familiarity :-)
Putin for U. S. President - I endorse!

Russia has rights, too

By international law, Russia is entitled to politically care about its immediate neighbors. Ever since Yalta conference, Russia-Churchill-Roosevelt, the Eastern Europe has been recognized as an obvious safety buffer for Russia, in light of being attacked by Germany twice, including by the major powers of the nowadays EU plus US-Canada landing in Russia's north, and also Far East, at the conclusion of the 1st WW, 1918, while the most of the EU members attacking Russia through the Ukraine corridor, all out of totally illogical fear (no weapons of mass destruction yet) that the hungry bankrupt, devoid of gold and currency Russia that chickened out of the war, and had two revolutions into chaos and hunger in 1917, could somehow attack everyone in the world.

A good use for emoji

Let a Cossack lift his sword, and the Russian will pee
(Maybe in his tank while laughing)

Politically correct union, Timobama

According to the Int'l law, hostile use or blocking of straights constitutes valid casus belli, as was recognized for Israel in the 6 Days War, re. the straights of Tiran. Besides the natural economic (also the pipelines running through Ukraine, that bring hydrocarbons to Europe,) and safety buffer from Europe, Russia wants natural access to its Crimea, which it conquered after being attacked by Turkey, and again reconquered from the UK-led EU forces in the Crimean war of 1850, precipitated by the EU trying to block Russia from accessing the Med, and its real estate in the prime area of Jerusalem.

A rare photo op where two Soviet  era BTRs associated with the Soviets in Afghanistan - under way, and under different flags!

US and Turkey have hinted at blocking Russia exclusively from exiting the Black Sea, going back to the Kennedy's Cuban crisis. US Ambassadors from that era, writing memoirs ascribe the Cuban crisis being precipitated by USSR placing the missiles in Cuba to get leverage over US to guarantee the safe passage out of the Black Sea. Today Turkey still tries to get any leverage on Russia, now the true and tried Moslem card - there is a Moslem minority in Crimea, which must have the same rights as their freedom loving brothers in Chechnia, Lybia, Gaza, Egypt, and Syria. "Maybe these Moslems can be a convenient political pressure group" I saw this months ago in news headlines, before the Ukrainian revolt. I think Putin knew all of these factors, and let US NGOs roil the Ukrainians, waited out the Olympics, and made the move.

meanwhile, there is an item of that northern passage to the White Sea always brewing between US and Russia. It is wider than the double of 6 km of territorial waters which would allow Russia to claim as its home waters, but US has always penetrated into the White Sea, causing submarine collisions. Throughout history, as Putin pointed out reminding the world of the US/EU-like landing, USSR nor Russia never even closed the passage. Russians equated the case with the Great Lakes, "how would US feel if St. Lawrence river was more than 6 km wide and Russian subs showed up in Chicago?"

Russia can conquer a small country just by using a monument.

Good point:
Kiev - free(zing) Europeans
Moscow - slaves of the regime.

Russia also cares about Ukraine as its spiritual cradle. Ukrainian lang. is very close to Russian. Kiev is the cradle of Russian history. Ukrainians grow up speaking both languages, Russian first. It is more like Massachusetts, which speaks funny, but is so organic to US, and is just funny to imagine quitting the US. Ukrainians sound funny trying to speak Ukrainian only. Most Ukrainians think they are entitled to have Russian citizenship, and feel bad because politically the countries want to be separate. The western Ukrainians are more polish, hungarian, etc nationally, and identify with the Ukrainian Nazis who have been documented to massacre Russians, Russian-speaking Ukrainians, and Jews for the past 100 years.