40 Million Russians Participate in Civil-Defense Drill as Negotiations with U.S. Over Syria Are Suspended

Connecting the dots is an essential skill if you’re going to discern what’s going in national and world affairs.  Seemingly unrelated events can suddently take on new meanings when viewed in tandem.  And your insight into what is happening can be greatly enhanced.

As we see the war in Syria continuing with its dizzying array of shifting alliances, two recent events stand out: Russia and the U.S. have suspended diplomatic communications regarding Syria, and Russia is holding a 40-million person civil-defense drill. Related?

First the diplomatic spat.

What last week was just a not-so-thinly-veiled-threat lobbed by John Kerry to the Kremlin has, now that Russia suspended its participation in a Plutonium cleanup accord with the US, become official, and as the State Department announced moments ago, the US has now suspended bilateral discussions, i.e. diplomatic relations, with Russia over Syria, escalating the conflict in the war-torn nation to a level last seen in late 2015.

“This is not a decision that was taken lightly,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said, cited by AFP, accusing Russia and its Syrian ally of stepping up attacks on civilian areas. Kirby said the Russian and US militaries will continue to use a communications channel set up to ensure their forces do not get in each others’ way during “counterterrorism operations in Syria.”

Kirby’s full statement is below:

The United States is calling home personnel who had been sent to Geneva in order to set-up a “Joint Implementation Center” with Russian officers to plan coordinated strikes.

Now the civil-defense drill in Russia.

The Emergencies Ministry of Russia is going to organize all-Russian civil defence drill since 4 October until 7 October 2016. More than 40 million people, more than 200.000 specialists of rescue and recovery units, as well as more than 50.000 units of equipment are going to be involved into the drill.

Also, federal executive authorities, heads of regions, local governing bodies and organizations are going to participate in the drill. Personnel and equipment of the Emergencies Ministry are going to be fully engaged, as well as rescue and recovery units, paramilitary mine rescue divisions, units of the State Small Vessel Inspectorate, as well as State Fire Service of the Emergencies Ministry and aircraft.

Non-staff rescue and recovery units will also participate in the civil defence drill. The drill is purposed to check relevance of current plans for different periods and preparedness of all personnel and equipment for action.

Is this drill just a coincidence, or is Russia sending a message to the U.S. and whoever else is listening that when it draws red lines, it doesn’t retreat from them as Obama is famous for doing?

Maybe it’s time for those of us in the United States to update those old “duck and cover” nuclear war civil-defense videos of the 1950’s.

Source:  Zerohedge

Source:  EMERCOM of Russia