"Satellites Show Russian Forces Poised Near Ukraine"

"NATO released satellite photographs on Thursday showing Russian military equipment, including fighter jets and tanks, that it described as part of a deployment of as many as 40,000 troops near the border with Ukraine. The release came the same day that President Vladimir V. Putin reiterated a threat to curtail gas sales to Ukraine."

"The photographs, taken by a commercial satellite imaging company called DigitalGlobe, offered some of the first documentary evidence of a military buildup that the West says Russia could use to invade Ukraine at any moment. They were released at a news conference in Belgium by Brig. Gary Deakin, the director of NATO’s Comprehensive Crisis and Operations Management Center." (read more)

NYT

Putin laughs

"When an interviewer recently confronted Vladimir Putin about Europe's American-made missile defense system the President of the Russian Federation couldn't help but laugh right in his face.

According to the journalist, NATO's missile defense system is pointed at and designed to protect Europe from Iran, not Russia."



via shtfplan