Defense Ministry Calls Up Reservists for Nationwide Training
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/defense-ministry-calls-up-reservists-for-nationwide-training/504443.html
The Defense Ministry has called up reservists for military drills to be conducted across the nation from August to October, Interfax reported Friday.
"A number of citizens will be called up for military drills in which they will undergo additional training in their areas of expertise," Interfax reported, citing a statement sent by the Defense Ministry.
The training will focus on teaching the reserves to use and service new and upgraded models of weapons and equipment. It will be conducted at military bases across the country and include personnel specializing in signal communications, missiles and artillery and logistics as well as motorized infantry and Navy coastal forces, the report said.
"All servicemen will be provided with food rations according to the norms during the training period, as well as clothing and equipment. They will be paid according to their position: about 15,000 rubles ($420). Those who are employed will still get their regular wages, while unemployed reservists will still get unemployment benefits," Newsru.com cited an unidentified enlistment officer as saying.
The ministry's announcement comes just one week after neighboring Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree to mobilize the country's reservists. However, according to the ministry's statement, the drills and training were scheduled back in November, when the plan for the armed forces in 2014 was prepared. President Vladimir Putin issued a decree to include the military's reservists in the drills on June 27.
Valery Gerasimov, head of the General Staff, first announced plans to begin including reservists in drills and training in March 2013, RIA Novosti reported.
Earlier military drills conducted near the border with Ukraine put Western leaders on edge and prompted speculation about an impending invasion. NATO members have repeatedly expressed concerns over Russia's military activity since Crimea was annexed in March.
As fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops has intensified in recent weeks, British lawmakers warned of "alarming deficiencies" in NATO's preparedness for a Russian threat, according to The Independent.
Putin-Backed Sales Tax Reveals Russia's Quandary
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/putin-backed-sales-tax-reveals-russia-s-quandary/504462.html
U.S. Senate Confirms John Tefft Will Be New Ambassador to Russia
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/u-s-senate-confirms-john-tefft-will-be-new-ambassador-to-russia-/504410.html
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved President Barack Obama's choice of John Tefft to be the next American ambassador to Russia, filling a post that had been vacant since February.
Tefft is a former envy to Ukraine under Obama, and to Georgia and Lithuania under Republican President George W. Bush.
Following the Thursday vote, Tefft will head to Moscow with U.S.-Russia ties are severely strained over Washington's sanctions on Russia due to its support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Dozens of Obama's nominees to be ambassadors have been held up for months by bitter partisan fighting in the U.S. Senate. Obama only nominated Tefft earlier this month.
But both Republicans and Democrats said the dire state of U.S. relations with Russia made it imperative to let Tefft jump the queue so he could head to Moscow as quickly as possible.
In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Senate carried out his confirmation hearing, committee vote and confirmation by the full Senate in just a few days this week, just in time for Congress to leave Washington on Aug. 1 for a five-week recess.
However, Republicans refused to accede to a Democratic request to confirm several other ambassadors before leaving town. That group included Obama's nominee for Guatemala, one of the Central American countries involved in the current U.S. child immigrant crisis.
John F. Tefft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Tefft
John F. Tefft (born 1949) is a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer since 1972. He was confirmed as the United States Ambassador to Russia on July 31, 2014. He has previously served as the United States' ambassador to Ukraine, Georgia, and Lithuania, as well as chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of the United States in Moscow, Russia.
Tefft is a native of Madison, Wisconsin and holds a B.A. degree (1971) from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a M.A. degree in history (1978) from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.[9]
Tefft is married to Mariella Cellitti Tefft, a biostatistician and nurse. They have two daughters, Christine, a lawyer at the State Department in Washington, D.C., and Cathleen, a program analyst at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C.
Photos
https://www.google.hr/search?q=John+Tefft&client=opera&hs=21J&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=j-bbU_DqCcPd4QSqu4DYBQ&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=660