Polls open in Russian vote to extend Putin’s reign

March 15, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “Russians started voting on Friday in a three-day presidential election set to hand hardline leader Vladimir Putin another six-year term as fresh attacks bring the raging conflict in Ukraine further into Russian territory.

In power as president or prime minister since the final day of 1999, the former KGB agent is casting the election as a show of Russians’ loyalty and support for his military assault on Ukraine, now in its third year.

Polling stations in a country spread over 11 time zones opened at 8:00 am on Friday (2000 GMT Thursday) on the Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula and will close Sunday at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) in Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, wedged between EU members Poland and Lithuania.

Victory will allow Putin to stay in power until 2030, longer than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the eighteenth century…”  (And to the surprise of no one, he won the election.

Vladimir Putin has been in power as either the Prime Minister or President of Russia since 1999.   He has, in essence, set himself up as ruler for life in Russia, much as Xi Jinping is set to be ruler for life in China.  Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 predict the union of Russia and China [Revelation 16:12; Daniel 11:44] as leaders in the battle for the greatest war in history called Armageddon – Revelation 16:16. Revelation 9:14 – 18 pictures its upcoming disastrous results.”)

China ties with Russia set to deepen after Putin election win

March 19, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday congratulated Vladimir Putin on his election victory, hailing the Russian president as a force for progress as Moscow’s ties with Beijing deepen.

Putin faced no genuine competition on the way to what state media reported was a record landslide win — one that paves the way for the former spy to become the longest-serving Russian leader in more than 200 years.

Both he and Xi, who often tout their deep friendship, have torn up political convention to secure unprecedentedly long terms in power.

In a congratulatory message reported by Beijing’s state broadcaster CCTV, Xi told Putin his re-election ‘fully reflects the support of the Russian people for you’.

‘I believe that under your leadership, Russia will be able to achieve greater achievements in national development and construction,’ Xi said.

For his part, Putin heaped praise on Beijing on Monday, saying he was ‘sure that in the coming years we will only strengthen and build up our relations’, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

‘The most important thing is the coincidence of state interests. This creates a very good tone for solving common problems in the field of international relations,’ Putin reportedly said…”  (China will become a basic partner with Russia for the rapidly approaching battle of Armageddon – Revelation 16:16. Russia will lead invasion number one – Ezekiel 38 & 39. China will lead invasion number two – Revelation 16:12; Revelation 9:14 – 16. Then all nations will come against Jerusalem for the final invasion at which point Jesus will return to stop the bloodshed and set up his eternal kingdom upon earth – [He gathers] all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken… Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south – Zechariah 14:2 – 4. Then Psalm 2:6 occurs as God the Father says: …I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion [Jerusalem].  See the next report.)

Russia, China and Iran deepen ties with naval drill

March 14, 2024 — The Jerusalem Post reports: “Iran, Russia, and China sent ships that gathered for a naval drill over the weekend. The drill continued this week and illustrates the growing cooperation between the countries. Russia, Iran, and China have conducted at least four naval drills in the past. However, this year’s are larger, and they come amidst rising tensions in the Red Sea and off the coast of Yemen.

Chinese and Russian state media both highlighted the drills. Iran says the drills cover some 17,000 square kilometers of open ocean. Global Times in China reported that ‘the naval forces of China, Iran, and Russia on Monday launched an exercise near the Gulf of Oman in a joint effort to safeguard regional maritime security, without targeting any third country or current regional tensions.’…

‘The joint drills are conducive to enhancing exchanges and cooperation among the Chinese, Iranian, and Russian navies, and it further displayed [the three countries’] will and capability in jointly safeguarding maritime security and actively building a maritime community with a shared future,’ Liang Dong of the PLA Navy’s 45th escort task force, said in the CCTV report…”

Russian Activists Warn Putin Will Use Terrorist Attack to Tighten His Grip on Power

March 26, 2024 — Voice of America News reports: “Russian activists are warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin will use the deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall outside Moscow to tighten his grip on power and further repress society.

‘It truly scares me how this regime uses terrorism,’ said Evgenia Kara-Murza, a human rights activist and wife of political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Addressing reporters at a press conference in Geneva, she warned that Putin would likely use Friday’s horrific event ‘to start new aggressions against our neighbors.’

‘And, of course, the fact that the terrorists were caught near the Ukrainian border raises many questions as to whether it is a provocation or whether the terrorist attack is being used as such,’ she said.

Though the militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 137 people and injured some 182 others, the Kremlin has been trying, without any evidence, to link the attack to Ukraine…”  (As was mentioned following the first article, Vladimir Putin has been in power as either the Prime Minister or President of Russia since 1999.  On August 16, 1999, in front of Duma, or parliament, he declared: ‘Russia has been a great power for centuries, and remains so.’  ‘It has always had and still has legitimate zones of interest abroad in both the former Soviet lands and elsewhere.’  In 2019, Asia Times Online reported of the lavish welcome Putin received in Serbia.  They stated: “Serbia – despite its new pro-Western leadership and EU ambitions – has deep historical ties with the Slavic ‘big brother’ that has supported Belgrade over the centuries, most recently during the 1999 NATO bombing campaign.  It is the only European nation that is truly close to Russia, with common Orthodox and Slavic roots, a daily Moscow-Belgrade train and a bilateral visa-free entry agreement. Putin pledged to invest US$1.4 billion in gas pipeline infrastructure for Serbia, which already buys all its natural gas from Russia.  But ties extend far beyond cultural and ethnic similarities, to Moscow’s wider geopolitical strategies.  The Belgrade love fest is just another brick in the giant international structure Russian officials label Russkiy Mir, or Russian World.  Moscow media cover ‘Russkiy Mir’ and conferences of ‘Russian compatriots’ on a daily basis. Though the USSR has dissolved, step by step, Putin’s Kremlin is bringing the vast lands of its former empire back into the fold.”  See the next report.)

Russia Announces 11 Arrests After Moscow Concert Hall Terror Attack That Left At Least 115 Dead

March 25, 2024 — Breitbart.com reports: “Russia on Saturday said it had arrested 11 people — including four gunmen — over the attack on a Moscow concert hall claimed by the Islamic State, as the death toll rose to 115.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was yet to comment publicly on the attack and Moscow has not addressed the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility, even as some lawmakers pointed to a possible Ukraine connection.

Camouflaged gunmen opened fire at the packed Crocus City Hall in Moscow’s northern suburb of Krasnogorsk on Friday evening ahead of a concert by Soviet-era rock band Piknik in the deadliest attack in Russia for at least a decade.

Russia’s FSB security service said some of the perpetrators had fled towards the Russia-Ukraine border, adding that the assailants had ‘appropriate contacts’ in the country.

It did not provide further details.

Some Russian lawmakers also pointed to Kyiv, without providing evidence.

‘The main interested party could most likely be Ukraine and its patrons … we can’t rule it out,’ said senior Russian MP Andrey Kartapolov…”

Putin says Russian nuclear weapons ‘more advanced’ than in US

March 13, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday lauded Moscow’s nuclear arsenal and warned that he was ready to deploy the weapons if Russia’s sovereignty was threatened.

The Kremlin has touted its nuclear prowess throughout its two-year offensive in Ukraine, last month warning Western countries that there was a ‘real’ risk of nuclear catastrophe if they escalated the conflict.

Putin’s browbeating rhetoric comes just days ahead of elections in Russia that are all but guaranteed to hand him another six years in power and as his military posts gains in Ukraine.

‘Our triad, the nuclear triad, it is more modern than any other triad. Only we and the Americans actually have such triads. And we have advanced much more here,’ Putin said in a wide-ranging interview with state media.

‘We are ready to use weapons, including any weapons — including the weapons you mentioned — if it is a question of the existence of the Russian state or damage to our sovereignty and independence,’ Putin added in the interview that aired on Wednesday…”  (A huge nuclear war is prophesied multiplied times in God’s Word.  Revelation 9:14 – 18 depicts Armageddon: Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.  And Revelation 16:16 tells of the longest and final battle of the ages.)

Russia says it is considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon with China

March 6, 2024 — The Jerusalem Post reports: “Russia and China are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon from 2033-35, Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Tuesday, something he said could one day allow lunar settlements to be built.

Borisov, a former deputy defense minister, said that Russia and China had been jointly working on a lunar program and that Moscow was able to contribute with its expertise on ‘nuclear space energy.’

‘Today we are seriously considering a project – somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035 – to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues,’ Borisov said.

Solar panels would not be able to provide enough electricity to power future lunar settlements, he said, while nuclear power could.

‘This is a very serious challenge…it should be done in automatic mode, without the presence of humans,’ he said of the possible plan…”  (And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” – Luke 21:25 – 27. See the next report.)

As Russian Threats Grow, King Warns U.S. Space Command of American Vulnerabilities

March 4, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “In a move to address vulnerabilities in America’s space infrastructure, U.S. Senator Angus King (Ind. ME) has emphasized the urgency of bolstering defenses against potential threats to the nation’s extensive satellite fleet. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator King engaged with General Stephen Whiting, the Commander of the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM), on the critical issue of safeguarding American space assets from emerging threats, particularly highlighting the advancements in Russia’s nuclear anti-satellite capabilities.

Senator King’s inquiries underscored a growing concern within the U.S. government and military regarding the asymmetric vulnerabilities posed by the nation’s dependence on space technologies. These technologies, integral to everyday operations such as GPS navigation in smartphones worldwide, represent a double-edged sword; while they afford the U.S. unparalleled capabilities, they also expose critical infrastructures to potential adversary actions.

‘We have the best space capability and have for many, many years. That’s the good news. The bad news is the dependency that we have on space, which makes us asymmetrically vulnerable in terms of the relationship with these potential adversaries,’ Senator King stated, urging USSPACECOM to explore alternative strategies to mitigate these risks. The senator’s call for a renewed focus on traditional navigation methods, such as celestial navigation, highlights a strategic pivot towards reducing reliance on space-based assets…”

China, Not Russia, Still Tops List of Threats to US

March 20, 2024 — Voice of America News reports: “Russia’s war in Ukraine — portrayed by top U.S. officials as posing a danger to the United States itself — still trails China when it comes to long-term threats to America’s security, according to a top Pentagon official.

The warning from Ely Ratner, the Defense Department’s assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs, comes in testimony prepared for a hearing Wednesday by the House Armed Services Committee on security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

‘The PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to present the most comprehensive and serious challenge to our national security,’ Ratner is set to tell lawmakers, according to a copy his opening statement obtained by VOA.

‘The PRC remains the only country with the will and increasingly the capability to dominate the Indo-Pacific region and displace the United States,’ Ratner warns, adding, ‘the PRC is pursuing its revisionist goals with increasingly coercive activities in the Taiwan Strait, the South and East China seas, along the Line of Actual Control with India, and beyond.’

This is not the first time Ratner has addressed the growing threat from Beijing…”  (China is prophesied to be a top contender and bloody warrior during the battle of Armageddon – Revelation 16:16. Revelation 16:12 pictures Kings coming to the Middle East, primarily China, to slay a third-part of mankind in atomic warfare. Revelation 9:14 – 18 the Oriental nations from the East join with Russia – the leader from the North – Daniel 11:44 – for the most horrendous war in history.  See the next report.)

China will be global ‘force for peace’: foreign minister

March 7, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “China will be a global force for peace and stability, the country’s foreign minister Wang Yi said Thursday in a wide-ranging press conference where he hit out against US ‘suppression’ and expressed support for Palestinians.

‘In the face of complex turmoil in the international environment, China will persist in being a force for peace, a force for stability, and a force for progress in the world,’ Wang told reporters.

Wang met the press on Thursday on the sidelines of China’s largest annual political gathering, which opened in Beijing earlier this week.

The ‘Two Sessions’ — parallel meetings of China’s rubber-stamp parliament and political consultative body — offer a rare glimpse into the strategy of the Communist Party-led government for the year ahead.

This year’s gathering is being closely watched for signals as to Chinese leaders’ confidence in current geopolitical conditions, as tensions persist across the Taiwan Strait and Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its third year.

China’s expanding political reach has sparked friction on multiple fronts, with Wang’s press conference coming after Southeast Asian and Australian leaders warned this week against Chinese actions that ‘endanger peace’ in the South China Sea.

China has increasingly flexed its muscles in the South China Sea, which it claims almost entirely despite an international arbitration ruling that declared its stance baseless…”

US Bolstering Philippines Amid Increasing Assertiveness by China

March 22, 2024 — Voice of America News reports: “The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila’s territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April, a Philippines government spokesman said Thursday.

Colonel Michael Logico said elements of the Balikatan 2024 drills would be conducted about 22 kilometers (more than 12 nautical miles) off the west coast of Palawan, an island in the archipelago nation that faces a troubled region of the South China Sea.

Chinese ships this month blocked Philippine ships near the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef about 200 kilometers (120 miles) off Palawan that both sides claim.

‘The message that we want to send is that we are serious about defending our territory and we have allies,’ Logico said at a news conference, according to Philippine media.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which border the sea. An international tribunal at The Hague has rejected China’s claim…”  (A March 19, 2021 article in The New York Times – Tense Talks With China Left U.S. ‘Cleareyed’ About Beijing’s Intentions, Officials Say https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/world/asia/china-us-alaska.html states: “Just as Washington’s views on China have shifted after years of encouraging the country’s economic integration, so have Beijing’s perceptions of the United States and the privileged place in the world that it has long held. The Americans, in their view, no longer have an overwhelming reservoir of global influence, nor the power to wield it against China.

That has made China more confident in pursuing its aims openly and unabashedly — from human rights issues in Hong Kong and Xinjiang to territorial disputes with India and Japan and others in the South China Sea to, most contentiously of all, the fate of Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China claims as its own.

While China still faces enormous challenges at home and around the world, its leaders now act as if history is on their side.”  See the next four reports.)

Philippines’ Marcos sees Chinese actions in South China Sea with ‘great alarm’

March 6, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said Wednesday that he sees Chinese actions in the South China Sea with ‘great alarm’, after recent confrontations described by a Filipino military commander as ‘the worst’ in two years.

The latest incidents involving Philippine and Chinese vessels took place on Tuesday in waters around Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands where the countries have contested maritime claims.

Manila said that China Coast Guard ships caused two collisions with Philippine boats and water cannoned one of them, leaving four Filipino crew members injured.

The Philippine vessels were part of a regular mission to deliver provisions to a handful of Filipino troops stationed on a grounded navy vessel at Second Thomas Shoal.

‘We continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous manoeuvres and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our coast guard,’ Marcos told reporters.

‘I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way,’ he said…”

China says US has ‘no right’ to interfere in South China Sea

March 19, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “China said Tuesday the United States had ‘no right’ to interfere in the South China Sea, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington stood by its commitments to defend the Philippines against armed attack in the disputed waterway.

‘The United States is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to interfere in maritime issues that are between China and the Philippines,’ foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular press conference in Beijing.

Blinken is in the Philippine capital Manila — his second visit since President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022 — as part of a brief Asia tour to reinforce US support for regional allies against China.

‘Military cooperation between the US and the Philippines must not harm China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, and still less be used to provide a platform for the Philippines’ illegal claims,’ Lin said in a response to a question on Blinken’s earlier comments.

‘China will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely defend its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea,’ he added.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea — a crucial route for global trade — brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that has declared its stance baseless…”

32 Chinese warplanes detected around Taiwan: Taipei

March 21, 2024 — SpaceWar.com reports: “Taiwan’s defence ministry said Thursday that 32 Chinese military aircraft were detected around the island in a 24-hour window — the second-highest number this year.

In the 24 hours leading up to 6:00 am Thursday (2200 GMT Wednesday), the Ministry of National Defence also detected five naval ships operating around Taiwan, it said.

Twenty of the aircraft ‘crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait’, it added in a statement.

Taiwan’s armed forces have ‘monitored the situation and employed (patrol) aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities’.

In two other 24-hour periods in late January and early February, the ministry detected 33 Chinese warplanes around the island, the highest number this year.

Those detections followed the January 13 presidential election won by current Vice President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing dislikes…”

Australia, Britain Criticize China for Actions in Hong Kong

March 22, 2024 — Voice of America News reports: “Australia and Britain on Friday criticized China for its actions in Hong Kong and the South China Sea and its support of Russia, after a meeting in which London and Canberra deepened their security ties.

The two countries called out ‘recent unsafe and destabilizing behavior by China’s vessels against Philippine vessels and crew near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea,’ in a statement that contained unusually direct language on Beijing’s activities in the region.

In a joint statement earlier this month with Southeast Asian nations, Australia called for restraint in the South China Sea, without explicitly mentioning China.

Friday’s statement was issued after Britain’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, and defense secretary Grant Shapps met their Australian counterparts, Penny Wong and Richard Marles, in Adelaide.

The four ministers said they were concerned about Hong Kong’s new security law and the erosion of freedom and rights in the territory, a former colony of Britain, as well as human rights abuses in China…”