Russos não conseguem lançar mísseis de novo

O MoscowTimes informa que pelo segundo dia consecutivo os militares russos não conseguiram lançar um míssel balístico durante a maior simulação de guerra nuclear desde o fim do império soviético. O Putin está fingindo que nada aconteceu e está destacando apenas a construção de novas armas.

"The experiments conducted during these maneuvers, the experiments that were completed successfully, have proven that state-of-the art technical complexes will enter service with the Russian Strategic Missile Forces in the near future," Putin said after watching the launch of a military satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, which was part of the massive exercises.

The new weapons will be "capable of hitting targets continents away with hypersonic speed, high precision and the ability of wide maneuver," Putin said, adding that the new weapons -- unparalleled in the world -- would "reliably ensure Russia's strategic security for a long historical perspective."

Depois de marquetear o novo arsenal, o presidente russo negou que os novos mísseis estejam sendo apontados para os EUA e que a Rússia não temambições imperiais ou hegemônicas.

O New York Times comentou hj a falta de liberdade na imprensa russa, dominada pela TV Estatal. A mesma que escondeu as falhas nos exercícios militares que comentei ontem (veja nota).

By all accounts, the Kremlin does not literally take a black marker to scripts or vet the coverage in advance at the nation's three national networks. Such Soviet-style methods are no longer necessary. Russia's two state-owned television networks and one state-controlled network mostly do the censoring themselves. That means Russia's television news increasingly aims to please an audience of one: President Vladimir Putin. For a nation trying to shed its totalitarian past, this is a treacherous slide in the wrong direction.