[BartSimpson]

As usual, this is all unconfirmed scuttlebutt so WYSIWYG.

* Thermal activity in Naro-Fominsk (near Moscow) reveals that the cold storage armored reserve units of the 4th Guards Tank Division are testing their engines and preparing for movement. This conclusion was reached because for the past twenty years the engines were only turned over a few at a time and then only every few weeks. This is the first time they've all been turned on since an exercise in 1994.

* Rail activity from Russia to the Kaliningrad Oblast via the Vilnius Corridor has increased in the past week with eight unscheduled cargo trains making the transit.

* Anticipated spring-time resupply and reinforcement of Russian Army units in Crimea and Donbass have not yet occurred.

* China is reportedly in talks with Guinea-Bissau with regards to the construction of port and maintenance facilities possibly on one of the county's offshore islands. The potential location indicates with high confidence that China is seeking to establish a naval base on the Atlantic.

* The Russian government is reportedly off balance in its response to the protests over the mall disaster in Kemerovo, Siberia. Official reports say as many as sixty-five people died in the disaster but local protesters claim more than 200 people died. Corruption figures into the disaster due to cronyism playing a part in the mall not needing to meet safety standards.

* The Russian delegation to NATO has had its staff cut to twenty as part of the diplomatic response to the chemical attack in the UK.

* Catalonia (Spain) is stressed again due to the arrest of Carlos Puigdemont in Germany.

That is all.

[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

* The Russian government is reportedly off balance in its response to the protests over the mall disaster in Kemerovo, Siberia. Official reports say as many as sixty-five people died in the disaster but local protesters claim more than 200 people died. Corruption figures into the disaster due to cronyism playing a part in the mall not needing to meet safety standards.

When I was still in University, I used to get a copy of Pravda at the University news stand to help me with my Russian reading comprehension and current affairs. It was an interesting exercise as to what and how they reported things, compared with the New York Times or similar western papers. Since everyone knew Pravda was the mouthpiece of the Kremlin, you could tell what the Kremlin was thinking by what Pravda was not writing.

You can do the same right now, by what TASS, RT, and Sputnik are not writing. They aren't saying anything about the corruption. Nor the disputed death toll.

http://tass.com/society/996449
http://tass.com/politics/996554
https://sputniknews.com/russia/20180328 ... ety-rules/
https://sputniknews.com/russia/20180327 ... ms-memory/

Other sources are considerable more graphic. (*warning!!*)

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/n ... rovo-fire/

http://www.dw.com/en/russias-deadly-mal ... a-43167917

So you can see the difference. Official sources concentrate on the Mighty Vlad, his concern and his blasting incompetence for this tragedy.

Other sources concentrating on the victims, the families and the corruption and cover up.

So, we know what the Kremlin is thinking. They are thinking they need to divert attention away from this quickly, or it will get ugly quickly.

[BartSimpson]

Agreed. Given that Putin flew to Kemerovo in the midst of an international crisis then I don't believe the import of the mall disaster can be overstated.

This just might be the seminal event that puts an end to the Putin regime.

[xerxes]

One would hope so, but don’t hold your breath.