Category: Russia

Russia, Gog, Gogue

Putin says ‘sorry cant help’ to Israel and invites Iran to Israels border.

On By AdminIn Israel, Russia1 Comment

For so long, Israel’s Prime Minister has warned Iran about crossing the ‘red line’ – an ultimatum which has characterised most of Netanyahu’s tenure as PM.

His warnings were issued to Iran with a tone of profound confidence and proclaimed at the highest levels of government. His speeches were arresting and the news organisations around the world cashed in on the sensationalism of it all. Many would remember his vivid speech to the world at the United Nations where despite irreconcilable world views, world leaders gather to epitomise unity and peace on earth while on the other hand, Netanyahu presented an explosive chart showing the sketch of a bomb with – you guessed it – a red line.

However, in the last few years, the red-line rhetoric fizzled out when under President Obama, the US put Netanyahu into a headlock and used the other arm to give Iran a load of cash as part of the Iran deal. While to the North, Russia’s grand move into Syria left an irritating little scribble on Netanyahu’s red-line.

As times have changed, the reality is that a bigger problem looms on the horizon: another red-line – this time, not Netanhayu’s.

Until now, Netanyahu’s military exploits in Southern Syria have been left unchecked by the Russian occupying force – most likely against the will of the regional Russian military commanders.

Netanyahu has bombed Syrian tanks that have strayed towards the Israeli border and even bombed Hezbollah targets close to Damascus while Putin seems to have had more interest in Sochi’s weather. Yet, only a few days ago, a senior Israeli official outright threatened to bomb Damascus – still, no response from Putin.

However Netanyahu’s concern for Iranian occupation in Syria reached a tenor pitch when he left Israel and took his red-line narrative to Putin who was patiently suffering harsh conditions in his Sochi resort. The meeting with Putin started well – at least for Netanyahu, who drizzled at length about his concerns of Iranian occupation in Syria; “Iran continues to threaten Israel’s existence, and it funds terror organizations and missile plans,” Netanyahu told Putin. “Wherever ISIS disappeared, Iran has taken over. Iran is already on its way to taking control of Iraq, Yemen, and in many ways has already taken over Lebanon.”

But when it came time for Putin’s turn to talk, the conversation did not go so well; “Iran is Russia’s strategic ally in the Middle East,” Putin told Netanyahu.

Witnesses present during part of the nearly two-and-a-half hour meeting say that following the Prime Minister’s entreaties to the Russian leader, Putin sighed, telling Netanyahu his government would be unable to assist; “Unfortunately, we can not help you here.”.

This is Netanyahu’s fourth trip to Russia in the last 16 months, and his sixth meeting with Putin during this same time frame. Netanyau said that the reason he wanted to hold talks now with the Russian leader was because the situation inside Syria has changed very rapidly over the last few weeks.

Less than a week after Netanyahu warned Putin, Putin put Netanyau’s warning to the test. DEBKAfile reports exclusively from its military and intelligence sources that on Saturday and Sunday Aug 26 – 27, Russian forces installed Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah officers at a joint “administration center” they had set up in the town of Quneitra – 5 Kms from the Israeli border.

Surveillance spotters saw them moving 2 km from the Golan border, the closest hostile Iranian and Hizballah troops have ever come to Israel’s border with Syria.

The reality is that while Israeli enemies gather on its border with Putin’s explicit support, Netanyahu’s tattered red line could well soon be replaced with Putin’s very literal and meaningful red line – Israel could lose its authority overnight to strike freely in Southern Syria.

What then of Israel’s red line?

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Ezekiel 38 prophecies that Russia and Iran will invade Israel in the latter days around the time of the coming of Jesus Christ. This has been a clear understanding of Christadelphians for 150 years and only now looking to becoming a reality in the years ahead. Follow our Facebook page for daily updates:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/WatchYeTherefore

Israel alarmed as Russian military moves 5km from Israel’s border

On By AdminIn Russia3 Comments

A couple of weeks earlier, we reported that Russia had moved troops within 85 kilometres of Israels border and we thought this was close! Well in the last few days, Russian troops have now moved 5 Kilometres from Israels border where they plan to stay for the long term.

This news is confirmed by a number of mainstream media reports including STRATFOR intelligence who say that this move was a part of a loosely established ceasefire agreement between the US and Russia.

Its a monumental step from September 2015, when we watched Russia move into Syria and setup a military base in the North-West.

The troops are now stationed in the Syrian town of Quneitra opposite the Syrian-Israeli Golan border. Russian military personnel were already present there to advise Syrian Arab Army troops – however this is the first time the Russian military units have been deployed on this scale.

A senior Israeli official reacted with alarm, “The agreement as it is now is very bad. It doesn’t take almost any of Israel’s security interests and it creates a disturbing reality in southern Syria. The agreement doesn’t include a single explicit word about Iran, Hezbollah or the Shi’ite militias in Syria”.

Debkafile reports:

The absence of any Trump-Putin commitment on this score leaves Israel fully exposed to the presence of Iranian and Hizballah forces within mortar range of its Golan border in an area supervised by their ally, the Russian military.

It was this danger that galvanized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu into broadcasting Israel’s total opposition to the Trump-Putin ceasefire for southwestern Syria during his visit to Paris on Monday, July 17, after his talks with President Emmanuel Macron.

In an apparent bid to calm Israel’s concerns, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made an usual statement for a Russian diplomat: “I can guarantee that we have done everything and the US side has done everything to ensure that Israel’s security interests within this framework are fully taken into account,” he said later on Monday.

Careful perusal of this comment revealed to our sources that it was made in the context of a previous ceasefire accord for the Russians had made Turkey and Iran “co-sponsors.”

Note how Russia has the responsibility of managing Iranian, Turkish and Hezbollah presence along the Golan – these are the national belligerents of Armageddon (Ezek 38 & Joel 3).

“‘Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. Ezekiel 38

How much closer does Russia need to be to Israel for us to make changes in our life that should’ve been made some time ago? (I speak for myself as much as anyone else!).

How long until the next step South is taken?

Russia is building a new military base – right near Israels border

On By AdminIn Israel, RussiaLeave a comment

This article has been published by Debka here.

The Russian engineering corps has started building a new base in southeastern Syria at a small village called Khirbet Ras Al-Wa’r in the Bir al-Qasab district. Until now, Moscow adhered to a policy of restricting its military presence to the western part of the country along the Mediterranean coast; no Russian troops were based further east than Palmyra.

The new facility is the first to be established since Moscow’s initial military intervention in the Syrian war in September, 2015. DEBKAfile’s military sources say it will provide Russia with a lever of control over the volatile Syrian southeast and its borders, where US-backed and Iranian-backed forces are fighting for dominance.

Russian forces will also stand closer than ever before to the Israeli border

Russian forces will also stand closer than ever before to the Israeli border – 85 kilometers from central Golan and 110 kilometers from southern Golan, not far from IDF military positions.

The new Russian foothold will be located strategically 96 kilometers from northern Jordan and 185 kilometers from the American and Jordanian special forces garrison at the al-Tanf crossing inside the Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi border triangle.

Placing the new base just 50 kilometers from Damascus serves another primary function, that of securing  the strategic crossroads leading from eastern and southern Syria to the capital – in other words, propping up the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Our intelligence sources note that construction on the new Russian base began concurrently with the resumption his week of secret US-Russian talks in the Jordanian capital, Amman. They are led by Michael Ratney, the special US envoy for Syrian affairs and Aleksandr Lavrentiev, for Moscow.

There were reports on Thursday, June 22 of a trilateral accord reached between the US, Russia and Jordan for creating a demilitarized zone in southern Syria, that would also cover the Israeli and Jordanian borders. DEBKAfile sources assert that no such accord has been reached. According to our information, the Russians put on the table a three-part plan for de-conflicting the incendiary situation in southeast Syria.  We can reveal its main points:

  1. American forces will continue to hold the al-Tanf crossing. In return, they will agree to Iranian, Syrian and Hizballah forces capturing from ISIS – and holding – the border town of Abu Kamal, further to the north.
  2. Moscow will guarantee the withdrawal of Iranian troops, pro-Iranian militias and Hizballah forces from southeastern Syria region at some point in the process.
  3. A joint US-Russian administration will be established to conduct the day-to-day affairs of southeastern Syria, including the areas along the Israeli and Jordanian borders.

Washington has so far turned Moscow down on this plan for two reasons: First, the Syrian army’s conquest of Abu Kamal would strengthen Iran’s grip on the Syria-Iraq border area, the prevention of which is a primary US objective. And second, the Americans want Iranian and Hizballah forces out of the region before any other steps are taken – instead of later, as per the Russian guarantee. This, the Russian negotiators were not prepared to concede.

Russia’s Zhirinovsky threatens war – if Hillary is elected

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Zhirinovsky… where to start!

For those not familiar with Russia’s second most influential politician, let me quote the man himself who said this in November 2015 during a parliament session after the incident of a Russian warplane being shot down by a Turkish F-16:

Russia must detonate a nuclear bomb on the Bosphorus to create a 10 meters high tsunami wave that will wipe out at least 9 million Istanbul residents.

Zhirinovsky is a fierce nationalist, notoriously antisemitic and a highly popular vice chairman of the Russian parliament who holds enormous influence amongst the Russian political elite.

At the time of the incident, he predicted – quite accurately – that Turkey would suffer the consequences of shooting down a Russian warplane through a military coup d’état. Within 12 months, Zhirinovsky’s prediction became a reality.

Putin at the time also is reported to have said the same thing – read more here – yet many seem to have forgotten that these threats were made at the time of the incident. Various coup plotters were blamed, but the instigators were never identified.

For two nations who have diametrically opposed religious, cultural and geopolitical interests, the relationship between Russia and Turkey seems to have quickly and awkwardly become very entwined. History would suggest that this will have serious consequences for Turkey.

The Last Break Southward (1995)

The last break southward is the magnum opus of Zhirinovsky in which he expresses his worldview.

“Since the 1980s, I have elaborated a geopolitical conception—the last break southward, Russia’s reach to the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.”

This is “really the solution for the salvation of the Russian nation … It solves all problems and we gain tranquility.” Russia will rule the space “from Kabul to Istanbul.”

The United States would feel safer with the Russian rule in the region, since wars there would cease under the Russian rule. Perhaps, some people in Kabul, Teheran, or Ankara would not like it but many people would feel better. “The Persians and Turks would suffer a bit but all the rest would gain.”

His book asserts that the “bells of the Orthodox Church must bell from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.” And Jerusalem becomes close. It is necessary that “the Christian world reunifies in Jerusalem.” 

These aspirations are some of the founding principles of Russian nationalism which find their roots in the writings of men like Fyodor Tyutchev – a notable 19th century Russian poet. Tyutchev wrote these words which subsequently came to characterise the Russian nationalism of today:

“Moscow and Peter’s grad, the city of Constantine, these are the capitals of Russian kingdom.

From the Nile to the Neva, from the Elbe to China, from the Volga to the Euphrates, from the Ganges to the Danube, this is the Russian Kingdom and let it be forever,

…just as the Spirit foretold and Daniel prophesied”

~ Fyodor Tyutchev

Quite a grand statement all things considered!

Right in the centre of that aspiring empire, sits Israel and Jerusalem. As we know, Daniel certainly did prophecy that this would eventually happen – Daniel 11:44.

In the most recent turn of events, Zhirinovsky has decided to weigh in on the US presidential elections by saying that “if Hillary Clinton wins, it will be the last US presidency ever”.

In addition to the recent deterioration in diplomatic relations with the US, Russia is posturing for grander ambitions in the Middle East.

The imperialistic ambitions southward are as old as the Tsars themselves, who attempted to invade Turkey when it was global super power. Since then, Turkey has receded into a republic and is far more vulnerable to Russian interests in the middle east.

Whatever the result might be in the US elections within the next few weeks, Zhirinovsky will certainly be a personality worth watching.

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Russia running out of cash… while military spending accelarates

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Over the past few years in Russia, two trends have started to converge: Russian funds are drying up very quickly while on the other hand, military spending is accelerating.

After almost two years in recession, the country’s rainy day fund has shrunk to just $32.2 billion this month, according to the Russian Finance Ministry. It was $91.7 billion in September 2014, just before oil prices started to collapse.

rainy day fund drying up

And it’s getting worse. Analysts expect the fund will shrink to just $15 billion by the end of this year and dry up completely soon after that.

“At the current rate, the fund would be depleted in mid-2017, perhaps a few months later,” Ondrej Schneider, chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, wrote in a note this week.

As if to ignore the alarming numbers, the second trend under Putin has become evident; defence spending has been steadily rising since 2011.

spending in Russia on military

Ofcourse, there is only so much defence investment that can be sustained when the country is attempting to steer away from an impending debt crisis, and this observation continues to stoke the anxiety of many a financial observer.

By itself, this national financial predicament is nothing new to Russia, however under the helm of Putin – who has a history of nationalistic & militant behaviour – it suddenly becomes a serious risk to global peace. Here is why;

  1. Putin’s unsustainable polls. 
    Putin pays considerable attention to his popularity as indicated by the polls. The biggest spike in popularity occurred when Putin invaded Crimea, which he considers to be Russian heartland, along with the rest of Ukraine. As western analysts point out, popularity by conquest is not a sustainable approach to politics. As Russian funds deplete and military spending increases, Putin might be pressured to invade Ukraine or Turkey to maintain political popularity.20160206_woc909
  2. Putin’s power is being internally challenged. 
    Over the last 12 months, analysts like STRATFOR and the Brookings institution have noticed that a dangerous feud is occurring amongst the Russian political elite. Putin is beginning to loose control as some of his closest allies are turning against him. For this reason, Putin has had to establish his own “praetorian guard“, and he is now looking to revive the former KGB as the existing FSB is increasingly challenging his interests. Read more here
    .
  3. Putin’s ideologies.
    Since 2012, Putin has been overtly reviving and supporting a number of Roman oriented philosophies and ideologies. They include such things as taking Constantinople, and giving it to “Christendom”. The unification of Catholicism with Orthodoxy, to be led by the Pope as the religious leader, and a Russian Emporer based in Constantinople on the Byzantine model. These ideologies suggest that Russian lands extend as far as Turkey, Egypt and even Israel, infact, some would suggest that Israel is not deserving of its own nation state.  These ideologies are prevalent, particularly in the far right of Russian politics amongst the nationalists, and generally, the Russian people and the clergy are both looking for the realisation of these ideologies. Both Putin’s popularity and power is increasingly dependant on the realisation of these ideologies in Russia.

To students of prophecy, these things are not so surprising, and now that Israel is back in their own land (and has been since 1948) we expect Russia to attempt conquest in the Middle East to secure for itself a spoil.

On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land. 

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, “Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?”’

Ezekiel 38: 10-13

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