Soviet Union

Although Russia’s Siberia may be best known for its harsh temperatures and snowfall, for miles around the small village of Yakutsk last Thursday, there was something a bit more interesting falling from the sky: nearly $400 million worth of gold bars, platinum, and even diamonds. According to reports in local news outlets, a Nimbus Airline […]

As Russian President Vladimir Putin secured reelection for the fourth time on Sunday, tensions between his state and UK officials continue to mount, with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accusing Putin’s regime of stockpiling banned chemical weapons and conducting research into how best to use them for assassinations. On March 4th, a former Russian intelligence […]

According to UK officials, a Russian made, Cold War era nerve agent was used in the attempted assassination of a former spy in Salisbury, England earlier this month. This revelation prompted Prime Minister Theresa May to expel 23 Russian diplomats from the nation, freeze Russian assets held within UK territories, and according to British media […]

Following the recent attempted assassination of a former Russian spy named Sergei Skripal on UK soil, Prime Minister Theresa May has called for the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from the nation and the freezing of Russian assets held on UK soil. Skripal and his daughter appear to have been the victims of a particularly […]

Earlier this month, a Cold War era chemical weapon developed by the Soviet Union was used in an attempted assassination in the UK of a former Russian Military Intelligence officer turned double agent for MI6. Sergei Skripal, the spy who was granted asylum to the UK in 2010, and his daughter Yulia, were found unconscious […]

When President Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur to Australia to take over command of the Allies South West Pacific Area on March 12, 1942, Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright inherited command of the US and Filipino forces on the Philippines. After the surrender of the American and Filipino forces in the Philippines in May of 1942, […]

Last week, Russia President Vladmir Putin delivered an address that included quite a bit of nuclear rhetoric that was as reminiscent of the Soviet era as Putin himself. From new intercontinental ballistic missiles designed specifically to circumvent U.S. defenses to cruise missiles with nuclear propulsion and near limitless fuel reserves … it would seem that […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to easily win reelection in the coming months, addressed Russia’s Federal Assembly on Thursday in a speech similar to that of the American State of the Union address. The speech placed significant emphasis on Russia’s growing military might, and as has long been a Russian tradition, seemed to […]

There is a kind of mythological component when people talk about invading Russia in the winter. A lot of people imagine Hitler, rashly deciding to invade the northern country during the coldest time of year, just as Napoleon had, and their asses getting handed to them by both the terrible cold and the Russians who […]

North Korea was considered too poor, authoritarian and vulnerable to succeed with its nuclear and missile programs. And yet Pyongyang has acquired advanced nuclear weapons capabilities — and, at the end of November, tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. Why has North Korea succeeded when other countries such as Iraq and Libya have failed? Three factors are central to North Korea’s success. This […]

Last month, North Korea tested their latest and most advanced ballistic missile platform to date, the Hwasong-15, and although its reentry vehicle appeared to fail, the platform itself proved capable of covering enough distance to place cities on America’s eastern seaboard within its potential range.  For the first time since the Cold War, Americans on […]

Late in the evening of April 26th, 1986, a safety test simulated a power station failure shut safety systems down at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, in Soviet-controlled Ukraine. A combination of design flaws in the reactor and station personnel failing to adhere to established safety precautions during the test soon led to an […]